The number of Six
by WolfWillow96
Summary: Living in a house with five original vampires, Elena is the only human in her family. Her oldest brother, Elijah, makes sure nothing happens to her but when Elena takes her life in her own hands, there is nothing he can do to protect her. When meeting the wolves, Elena is caught between two worlds and doesn't know who the bad or the good guys are anymore.
1. Chapter 1

''I hate Tuesdays.'' Caroline sat down on the empty brown chair next to me, her blond hair pulled back in a ponytail.  
''You know why? '' Before I could answer, she explained. Apparently, Caroline thought Tuesday was a waist, that it had no use at all. Monday was the day after the weekend, there had to be one. Wednesday was half a day, which everyone liked. And Thursday is the it's-almost-weekend-day and then Friday, well, it didn't even need explaining. So the only day in the week that shouldn't be there, was Tuesday.  
A loud cough in front of the class, made us all quiet, everyone turned around, facing the clean blackboard. The teacher had come in with a suitcase in one hand and an apple in the other, which she placed in the corner of her neat desk.

Ms. Appelo took an apple to class, every day, which made us call her Ms apple instead of Appelo. It wasn't weird she brought them, what was, was that she didn't even like apples. She did it to look more like The Perfect Teacher, the one with the straight clothes, the strict face, big glasses and a pony tail. After setting down her case, straightening her skirt and grimacing, she sat down, legs crossed. As it was said in the book.

I wasn't lying when I said there was a book, there was, in the top drawer. One of my class mates had found out, I never understood how. Everyone thought of her as a crazy teacher, to dedicated to her work. Even her colleagues thought so. And she kind of was, unless you thought keeping charts of all your students grades wasn't weird.

It was lunch break, finally. The weather was good and the food.. eatable. Today was a good day, I could feel it, there was something in the air. Bonnie sat next to me, her beautiful black hair just falling over her shoulders. With her great free-flowing hair , she was my only friend who never seemed to have split ends. Unfair, I know. She was wearing her every day look, not bad dressed but not overdressed either, just normal.  
Caroline, in the meantime, had moved on to another topic, a party at Tyler's. When she was about to explain why we really needed to be there, Bonnie stopped her.  
''Tell us, now. Who is he?'' Caroline's eyes widened which made her perfect trimmed eyebrows go up a little but only for a second because she recovered fast.  
''What do you mean?'' She asked, playing dumb. I knew better and so did Bonnie. From experience, we knew Caroline liked the attention pointed at her, the blonde wanted us to ask further. So we did. More out of habit than curiosity, I mean, try to get excited about the same story you hear almost every week. It was a routine we had to stick to, because we were good friends. Caroline liked a guy, they dated, she dumped him, she cried and we comforted her until the next victim came lurking around the corner.

''It's Tyler.'' She blurted out. Fidgeting with her nails, she looked down and I slapped her fingers. It was our rule, if anyone ever bit their nails or did anything to ruin them, we slapped each other's hands. After she threw me a quick thank-you, I started talking.  
''So Tyler. Doesn't he have a girlfriend?'' If I had known then , that by just saying this one sentence, we'd be talking about it the whole day, I wouldn't have said it. I really wouldn't have.

The day was over and it was one of the days that I didn't hate seeing my brothers car parked on the other side of the street. Nearly forgetting to watch left and right, I crossed and got in the BMW. I had four brothers and a sister, I was the youngest. Elijah was behind the wheel, which wasn't one of his habits. Usually, he let one of the others do everything that involved me, like taking me to and from school, he did other things, things where my brothers were too childish for. They wouldn't handle it right, Elijah always told me. Not that I knew what those things were because he liked to remind me that I was the youngest and that it was none of my business.

''Caroline asked if we could do something this weekend.'' I quickly said, before I lost my courageous.

''Sure, you don't need my permission for that, do you?'' He actually sounded confused, like he never forbade me anything. I sighed and explained that we wanted to have a sleepover, at Caroline's. His grip on the wheel tightened and I knew what the answer would be so I said he didn't even have to bother answering. I stared out the window, trying to keep my eyes at place, not to follow everything that we passed but it was impossible because there was no point on which I could focus. What it did do, was keeping my mind of the fact that I was angry with Elijah, for not even considering it. I sometimes wished that Klaus was the oldest or Rebekah.

We stopped in front of the house but neither of us got out. I looked at my fingers, noticing blue ink stripes and dots on my hands. Not remembering when I had held my pen wrong, Elijah talked.  
''You can have the sleepover.'' Surprised, I looked up at him, feeling something was wrong. And my presumption was right.

''At our house.''

''You've got to be kidding me.'' Was the only thing I said before I opened the car and slammed the door. Of course, Elijah was already inside thanks to his vampire speed, with errands he apparently had done before picking me up from school.  
Who couldn't hate dear old Elijah?

I could.

''Change the channel, this is boring.'' Caroline commanded and I automatically obeyed. I wiped my hands clean from the chips on my black and white pyjamas, leaned forward and almost fell of the couch. I reached for the remote but got only air, the remote gone. Anger rose up in me, they had behaved so human until now, someone had to ruin it.  
''Where did it go?'' Caroline's eyes were wide with surprise and wonder, so naïve.

''Klaus!'' I yelled, even though he would've heard me if I whispered.

''Give it back, I know it was you.'' Klaus was the second youngest brother of the family and liked to mess with me. Being the only one who wasn't a vampire in a house full of them, didn't have much perks, especially when you were the youngest of six.

''Looking for this?'' Klaus asked, appearing behind me, juggling with the remote. I tried to give him my best I-hate-you-face. When my brother was bored, he did the stupidest things, like bullying me or picking a fight with the eldest brother, Elijah.

Elijah was the most mature of us all and the one I loved most. He solved our fights, was honest and maybe a little too protective which was better than not caring at all, I guessed. Between Elijah and Klaus, there were Damon and Rebekah. He was a mix of the two older brothers. Sarcastic, rude, impulsive and playful but also honest and careful. Damon was the most outgoing person. If I wanted advice on social matters, I came to him. Even though I didn't want to admit it, I looked up at him.

My sister, in the middle of the four brothers, was the normal one of the family. Last and definitely least, the youngest brother, Stefan. He couldn't care less whether I existed or not. I had no idea why he hated me but there wasn't much I could do except accepting it. Elijah had told me once that Stefan already hated me since I was little, because I replaced him as the youngest. I thought it was stupid to be jealous of that because face it, being the youngest of six kids, where four of them are guys in their puberty and vampires, didn't have a lot of advantages. I'd be happy to trade with him any day.

''Don't be so childish, Klaus, give it back.'' Elijah said, coming down the stairs, dressed in a black suit, white shirt underneath and on top a black tie.

"Why do you look so good?'' I hoped he wouldn't tell me what I thought he was going to tell me.

''Well, glad you ask. There is this new trend, nowadays, that when you stay home and plan on sitting in front of the TV all night, watching drama series with ice cream and chocolate, you dress up!'' Damon answered for him, not taking the effort to go down normal, taking the stairs but jumping down, also neatly dressed with a pair of jeans and a plain black shirt. It didn't make a sound when he hit the floor.

I sighed and let my head hang down because I had asked them to act normal, or rather human, if there were any friends around. Knowing better than to think they'd listen, I hoped. There was nothing wrong with hoping, was there?

One day, because of careless Stefan of course, who else would be so stupid, Caroline had found out about the whole vampire situation. Only knowing parts of the existence of these creatures, she didn't want to know more. Nor were we going to tell her, because she had almost fainted finding out. Not an ideal situation. At these rare occasions, I thanked god for inventing compulsion.  
Elijah had handled the mess Caroline had been, he had gotten her to relax from her hysteria and accept what was.

From the corner of my eye, I could see my friend froze when Damon jumped. She still hadn't got used to the idea of my brothers being vampires but she was getting there, I hoped. Again, it was all I could do, hoping. The reason I wasn't a bloodsucker was because after the fifth child, my mother found a way to let me survive without making me a vampire. Esther was a witch and with a friend of hers , she created a spell that let me be human but stopped my aging. I stayed seventeen for the rest of my life. Not so great because I was as weak, slow and hungry like a human. Nobody knew what my mom and her friend had done. They died the next day, the spell had taken too much of the two young witches.

Thanks to Elijah ,who gave me vervain, I couldn't be compelled. If he wouldn't let me take it every morning to protect me from other vampires, I was pretty sure my siblings would've taken advantage of it a long time ago. It's hard to live with them, especially when your parents aren't around to throw around punishments and favour the youngest.

''You're going out, with Damon?'' I couldn't believe it. Of all the times I had wanted them gone, they went when I wanted them home.

''Yes, Y-E-S.'' Damon spelled while writing the letters in the air, finishing with a big dot.

''Stefan and Klaus will stay home to look after you.'' Elijah said matter of factly. Like that didn't mean hell. Like it was wise to leave them with a human and the sister they hated. Awesome.

"And Rebekah? " I asked, hoping she'd stay home. Ignoring me, Elijah called Stefan.

''We have to stay home, at a Friday night?'' Klaus asked, still holding the remote, realizing what Elijah had just said. I crossed my arms and started pouting. Very mature, I know, but I couldn't help it. Being locked up with those two asses was the worst of the worst. If Stefan nor Klaus weren't stopped by Elijah, my night was ruined. They loved it when Elijah was gone but they hated taking care of me. Which I hated too. I've never been left alone in my entire life.

''What?'' Stefan lazily walked in, took his usual place, hanging against the wall. It was obvious he hadn't been listening and I hoped Klaus wouldn't talk. My youngest brother could go from happy to furious in one second, he was like a granate, always ready to explode. All you had to do was pull the pin. Klaus lifted me up from the couch, put me down right in front of him and kept a firm grip on my arms which made it impossible for me to struggle.

''We, brother, have to stay home so we can babysit our sister while Damon and Elijah are going out. '' I tried to break free from his grip but looked like a fly struggling against a spider's web.

''No, we don't.'' Stefan looked at me, his eyes filled with anger. And here it comes, I thought.

''I don't need a babysitter.'' I calmly said, as if someone would listen to me.

''Shut up!'' Stefan said, or kinda growled it. This was why I didn't want to have it at my house. Every chance of getting out of the house, of getting away from the supervision of any vampire, was a bless.

''I am starting to feel sorry for you, kid.'' Damon said, after seeing the faces of Stefan and Klaus. Most of the time, Rebekah or Elijah stayed with me and rarely Klaus nor Stefan. When the five of them left, Elijah always let Damon's best friend come over, Alaric. He was a tall handsome man with short brown hair and didn't have much trouble getting attention from woman, not that he actually noticed it. Alaric was one of the few old vampires that still lived like a human. When he had been changed, he had kept all his values and lived after them. I liked hanging around with Damon's best friend but I barely saw him because my brothers and sister rarely went away at the same time. Alaric was also the one that kept my brother, Damon, from doing the wrong thing. Damon was easily tempted.

''Jeez, that's helpful. '' I sarcastically responded.

Rebekah, who was wearing a strapless black dress with her blond hair hanging in loose curls, came down and made the whole party complete.

''So you too are going out?'' I asked disappointed, my last hope fainting away. She smiled and winked.

''Have fun with tweedledee and tweedledum!'' Rebekah said before leaving. So nice of her, I thought while rolling my eyes. Elijah kissed my forehead, wished me and Caroline a good night and looked meaningful at Klaus and Stefan, the former's grip getting more and more painful, the latter's look more and more murderous.

''See you laters, alligators.'' Damon said before closing and locking the old wooden door. It didn't help keeping vampires in but it did help keeping humans out. Waiting until Klaus would finally let go, I stayed just where I was until the sharp pain on my arms was gone and I started feeling bruises coming up. A door was slammed shut and that was my sigh to move again. Stefan was nowhere to be seen but I checked with Caroline first. .

''Are they gone?'' I asked her. She nodded.

''Finally.'' I said and sat down next to her, at the new leather couch. Stefan had burned the previous one. Don't ask me why.

''Are you all right? You look a little pale.''  
''It's just…Let's watch a movie.'' She answered, avoiding my question.

''I'm sorry.'' Was all I said.

While choosing a movie, Stefan came down, new clothes on and gel in his hair.

'' You can't go out, Elijah told you so.'' I pointed out while starting the trailer of a comedy.

''You can't go out, Elijah told you so.'' Stefan aped me. He was looking in the glass of the oven at his own reflection, turned his head sideways and looked satisfied. Unbelievable people could be attracted to such a dick.

''Elijah is not my boss, he is yours. Klaus and I are going out, you won't say a thing, have your little baby party and we'll get back before Damon and Elijah do. I already talked this over with Klaus, he agrees so if everyone shuts up, there won't be a problem. It's no biggie. Do you understand?''  
I nodded but I couldn't help feeling a little guilty. Elijah was always good to me and I didn't like lying to him. On the other hand, it would be the first time I was alone in this house. Stefan made some threats, the usual I-will-kill-you and all that, because he was afraid of getting caught. Whether he wanted to admit it or not, everyone listened to Elijah.

Both left through the window upstairs, because the door must've been too mainstream, without saying another word.

''I guess we finally have the house for ourselves.'' I said and pressed the start button on the remote.


	2. Chapter 2

Yesterday's movie was good, even though it ended like any other movie, she got the boy and they married. Of the second though, I only remembered the beginning, I'd fallen asleep. When I woke up, I was lying in my bed instead of the couch, probably put there by Elijah, who apparently had carried Caroline as well seeing she was lying on the matrass next to me. When she slept, she looked really weird. Her mouth was always open, a double chin was formed, her arms were spread like a butterfly spreads its wings and her legs were curled up to her stomach.

It made me wonder, how my brothers would look like if they'd sleep. It'd definitely be an opportunity to kill them. Nobody used their bed, except for Klaus and Stefan, they brought girls home, against Elijah's rules, and I don't really need to point out what they use the bed for.

Trying not to make a sound, I tiptoed to my door, avoiding the mess, opened it and closed it again, really soft. A sudden movement behind me made me turn around and in one tenth of a second, my back was pushed against a wall. Klaus was so nice to keep me in place there, not bothered about it hurting. If I had vampire strength, I'd push him back, over the railings, but yeah, I didn't.

''I know you were in my room, all my stuff smells like you.''  
I smiled, he was right. Yesterday night , me and Caroline had held a kind of photo shoot in between the two movies but I couldn't find my camera so I went into his room and looked for his. I'd almost forgotten about it.

''Yeah, remember I asked you I could use your camera? Yesterday night, when you were home..'' I stopped, knowing Klaus got the point. My brother gritted his teeth and looked over his shoulder to see Elijah setting the table downstairs, who was probably listening. Klaus forced a smile and let go but not without a watch-your-back glance at me. I rolled my eyes.

''What an extensive breakfast! You've really overthrown yourself this time.''  
I wondered what Klaus meant and got down after him. He was down in a hundredth of a second, I needed half a minute. We used to play tag, when we were young, I used to be faster than Stefan and Klaus, even though I was younger. Good times.

Seeing the table, I had to admit Klaus was right. There were four plates on the table, a dozen of different kinds of cheese, seven kind of drinks, the usual confectionary and even unhealthy food. I smiled, hoping he would let me eat some of the cake but I doubted it. Elijah only let me eat healthy, not that he could control me when I was at school but still, I sometimes really craved for chocolate pudding at the table or a cookie in the jar.

''Why four?'' I asked. Elijah said he wanted to make it up to me, for leaving yesterday and leaving me with Klaus and Stefan, where after he immediately got an answer at from Klaus, telling him that he and Stefan were the best brothers in town. Elijah and Rebeckah would join me and Caroline at the table. He thought that I would like that. I confirmed that I indeed would like that, announced I was going to get dressed and went back upstairs. I was a little worried that yesterday's event might get out into the open and that Elijah would be mad or rather hurt but I trusted Klaus and even Stefan. As long as they hadn't done something stupid, It would be all right. Our house was really big, it had to be if you lived in it with six.

The living room, with not much furniture and the best quality technology, and the kitchen, a very modern one with a kitchen island, were open, no doors involved. The stairs were on the right, going up to a kind of balcony where the second floor started, which was also open and big. Kind of like Damon's ego.

On the left and right were four doors, six were bedrooms with each their own bathroom and two were closets. Rebekah didn't find her bedroom big enough so she wanted another room for her clothes. The other closet was one for me but I didn't use it. Rebekah had put it full of nice clothes, like Alice had done in Twilight for Bella, but I liked dressing a little more shy. The attic was on the third floor but we never went up there, there was nothing to be seen but old rags and spiders. Thinking about it, I've never even been up there since we moved here.

And last, our basement. It was like a long hallway, with a storage room, the laundry room and an empty room that had no use. I didn't like going down because it gave me cold shivers, it was a sad place. Klaus had once told me it had been used as a prison for vampires by some evil doctor, which I didn't believe, but when I asked Damon about it, he acted so weird I didn't know what to believe anymore.

After breakfast, which was a little awkward but fun for a change, I let Caroline out. She told me, after a hug, that she was glad she had finally seen my house, that she had been curious about where I lived. I smiled and explained that she could come by as often as she wanted now that she knew where it was. She said she definitely would keep it in mind and take Bonnie with her.

We only lived here for a few months now. The fact that we didn't grow older made us move once in a while, it got people curious that you didn't age while they did. Last time, we stayed for four years but there were some neighbors, friends and a lot of other people getting suspicious so this time we would keep it to three, like we always did. But I didn't like it, especially since this was the first year that one of my friends knew about it all. Too bad, I thought. After saying goodbye, I went back in and sighed, deeply.

''Was it that bad?'' Elijah asked, raising an eyebrow.

''I can still make her forget our situation if you want me to.'' He was cleaning the table, at vampire speed, and was already done before I could answer.

''No, I'm trying to have a life, this time, you know, like normal people, where I can invite friends to come over.'' We have had this conversation already over a million times. After the 'incident', as Stefan would like to call it, Elijah's first suggestion was to erase it from her memory but I didn't want that. He tried to talk me out of it but I kept my foot put and I haven't had a single regret ever since.

There was another plus-side, besides the fact that I didn't have secrets for Caroline. Before the incident, my blond friend liked my blond brother, know that she knew the truth, she stayed away from Stefan. Caroline had some classes with him, even though he was one year higher than us, she had some advanced classes and had an immediate crush on him, God knows why. Have you ever seen him? Everything about him screams 'ego', 'superficial' and 'sex'.

I couldn't imagine my brother and best friend together and it'd be dangerous to date a vampire. Imagine Stefan getting jealous over something stupid, he wouldn't have a problem killing and Caroline would be devastated. Yeah, best case scenario. Can't even imagine the worst.

So , I decided, it was for everyone's best interest if Caroline knew about this.

It was Saturday and we all had promised a family day to Elijah. It wasn't special, it was just a day where we all did something together. My oldest brother could be a sentimental bag of tissues sometimes. Nobody really hated nor did we like it, we just gave him his pleasure. A long time ago, when psychology was starting to get known, Elijah had read that spending time as a family together, it made you closer. I just called it a TFD, it was short for The Family Day.

On the previous, we went bowling which was hilarious. Going to a normal bowling track for normal people? What had Elijah been thinking. They all had to hold back their strength, roll as soft as possible without it going hundred miles per hour. I can tell you, they sucked. Focusing on not to let the ball fly through the wall in the back, they couldn't concentrate on the orientation so it always went into the gutter. Hard to lose from.

In the beginning, Klaus had underestimated how strong he was and when he wanted to throw the ball , it was supposed to bounce a little and then go straight forward but it just went through the wooden floor and left a big black hole.

Elijah was a little bit pissed off but he could laugh with it at the end. Damon and Rebekah had rolled their eyes and Stefan had burst into laughter. The owner didn't get how we had done that but after Damon compelled him, we got another track. I insisted we gave the poor guy money to fix it.

This time, we decided to be lazy and went to the Mystic grill, a bar in town. No alcohol for me because Elijah didn't let me drink, I was only 17 years old. Do I need to say that I was 17 for over a hundred years? To my brother, it didn't matter. I did convince him to let me have a driver's license, where after I, as anyone would, expected to drive. Not on Elijah's watch apparently. He insisted I shouldn't be risking my life in traffic. Not that living with five vampires was more dangerous, not at all. If I had parents, I could at least argue with them or make an agreement, try that with a vampire. If he said no, it was no.

Me, Elijah and Rebeckah took the car, Damon, Klaus and Stefan ran. Taking the car was like crawling to your destination for vampires. Damon once put me next to a snail and said I could only follow the snail's speed. After a minute or two, I gave up and got his point.

The mystic grill was rather empty but it was only seven o' clock.

We sat down on the old wooden chairs while Klaus and Damon were discussing whether blood was more tasteful from a vein in the pulse, neck or thigh. Elijah didn't like them talking about it when I was there so he tried to shut them up. Didn't work.

Rebeckah thought it was the neck, Damon the thigh. Apparently, nobody like the pulse.

They were all trying to defend their point of view and I was just mending where I could but I soon got bored. I didn't get why they liked talking about their food so I started looking around, making up bio's about random people in the Grill. After thinking that the old man in the corner was secretly a pirate, someone caught my eye.

Behind the bar, I recognized a guy from school. After telling Elijah I was going to ask for Wifi, I went to talk with him. He was looking good today, he had a loose white shirt on with a little bit V-neck that went well with his black pair of jeans. His blond hair was messy in a hot way, not the hobo kind of way.

''Hi.'' I said while placing myself at one of the bar stools.

''Hi, you're from school, right?'' the quarterback replied with a big smile and I was surprised at how white his teeth were, they were beautiful. ''Yeah, I am Elena.''

''I'm Matt. You don't come here often.'' He stated. I shook my head as a confirmation and looked at the chart. A quick glance over my shoulder told me Elijah wasn't paying attention to me and was in the midst of a discussion with Damon. I could risk it.

''I'll have a white martini please.'' I said, excited to feel alcohol running through my veins again.  
While making it, he asked me about my 'friends', the group that was loudly laughing and talking. I answered it were my siblings but closed that topic and started about something else. He gave me the martini and it tasted delicious, it was so much better than water.'

'Well, if that isn't illegal.'' Hearing his voice, I sighed and held on to the glass. Damon always needed to interfere. An amazing brother, he was.

''Do you always get seventeen year old's drunk? I'd think you, looking the way you look, would have no trouble hitting on girls, why get them wasted?'' My brother motioned him to come closer, and gave him some advice. ''That's for the ugly people, don't go there.'' Damon winked at him while showing his friendliest smile. Matt just stared at him, his face not showing any sign of emotion, except for maybe confusion. Most people felt intimidated by Damon and his charming ways, but this guy seemed self-sure. Yeah, looking at a vampire like that, you must have some balls, I thought. Even though he didn't know he was looking at the animal that could kill him in a sec.

''If you don't introduce me, I'll do. Hi, Damon.'' He held out his hand to Matt who shook it back. With his other, he took my Martini away while I thought he hadn't been looking. I had been so close.

''Matt , Matt Donovan.'' The bartender replied. After the usual ''nice to meet you'' and ''you should visit some time'' followed by a goodbye, Damon took me back to our table, drinking the martini.

Was I interested in Matt? No. What did I like about him? Nothing. Why did I fall for him? I didn't.  
I rolled my eyes after Rebekah's interrogation and Elijah's lecture about how alcohol damaged my brain, I should listen to him, yadda yadda yadda. After both Damon and Klaus petted me on the head and told me to be 'a good girl' next time, they went back to talking about their previous subject, which happened to be whether a boy or a girl was easier to seduce.

After an hour, Elijah and Rebekah went away, they had some ''business'' to attend, God knows what. No, even God probably didn't know, it was Elijah we were talking about after all. And he was the guy who made us do these TFD's. Stefan too went away and not much later, Damon had seen a girl he fancied, which left me and Klaus.

We decided to sit down at the bar because it was just the two of us.

''I won't tell if you won't.'' I looked meaningful at Klaus.

''You know how I feel about that whole 'we need to protect you' thing. Do whatever you like.''  
I smiled, that was the answer I had been waiting for. I ordered two martini's, a white and a red one.

''I still don't get what you like about a white martini.'' Klaus looked at in disgust where after I offered him to taste and he did but instead of swallowing, he spit it out on Matt and growled. I raised an eyebrow, this was not vampire-like.

''Vervain.'' Klaus mouthed. My eyes widened and I looked at Matt. Did he know? How could he know? Maybe he knew some vampires or was he himself a vampire! Right before I was about to ask, Klaus's hand was covering my mouth. It stunk like dead animals and was cold as ice.

''Don't.'' he said, still holding his hand there. Matt started to look worried and doubted whether to interfere or not. I clawed at his hand which didn't work, so I licked it, Klaus let go and dramatically wiped his hands on his pants.

''Why not?'' I asked.

''Because I say so.'' He looked around, put his jacket on, threw the keys of the car on the bar and left, without saying anything. I sighed.

Well, I could drive myself home this time, it had been a long time. Matt asked what that was about but I shrugged it away, said it was just a big brother thing. Fortunately, he left it at that and I kept suppressing the urge to ask him about vampires.  
We talked for a while, and I came to know a lot about him and found that we had several things in common. Matt had an older sister, Vicky, who I hadn't met yet, and both of his parents were dead. He and Vicky lived on their own, in the house they grew up in. He was a good-humoured guy but he sometimes had a difficult time with the money, he had some debts. I felt bad for him and made a mental note. After two more hours, I left and went home, wondering where Klaus had gone too.

-

It was Monday and there was a new kid at school, a girl named Jenna. At least, that's what Caroline told me, where after I got a very detailed description of how she looked which was okay according to Caroline's norms. The blonde always knew everything, and she was almost always right. When I saw the new girl myself, I had to say she looked exactly like Caroline had described. Ready to go after packing my stuff, I realized that a quiet girl with light brown hair was still standing in the back of the classroom while everyone else was already gone. I saw her looking doubtful at a paper she had in her hands. How had Caroline called her again? I didn't remember, damn it. Stupid brains, can't remember a name but knows the whole periodic table. It turned out the paper was a schedule of the classes she followed with all the classrooms numbers next to it.

''History is in building B, it's not far away from here.'' I said, while pointing to the B-block, and scared the girl who rapidly turned her head to me.

''I'm sorry, I didn't want to scare you. I'm Elena, you?'' I asked, trying to make her feel more comfortable. She looked like a scared rabbit, trapped in a corner.

I knew how it was to be the new girl, I knew it all too well. Always needing to get to know the school, get lost so many times, make new friends, not knowing what to do in the beginning, it was hard.

''Hi, I'm Jenna.'' The girl told me where after she gave me a shy smile. Now I remembered. Jenna, Jenna, Jenna. It's not even a difficult name for Christ sake.

I sucked at remembering names and faces, it was something I had to live with but I didn't find it so troubling as much as the people who I forgot. Most of them didn't mind and got that it wasn't personal but some got really mad and felt , well, forgotten. Don't blame me if you're not very extraordinary and you just slip out of my mind.

I suggested that I would guide her to the building because I had my next class in the room across. She seemed to doubt about it but quickly decided to agree. While we were walking, I asked Jenna, a name I found that sounded old, where she came from and why she had moved here. Jenna explained that her father had been transferred for work so she came along with him. She had no siblings, and she was glad about that but when I asked her why, she couldn't answer.

I was glad I had my siblings, sometimes. I could definitely miss a few but being an only child? I wonder how it would've been liking without Damon comforting me at night when we were little, without Rebekah giving me advice on boys. And without Stefan bullying me. I could really do without the last one, I decided.


	3. Chapter 3

The rain fell down on the window, it made the same hypnotic noise over and over without an end. I was sitting on the window shelf, looking at the blurry world outside. So this is how fish in a bowl saw everything, I thought. I'd been sitting there for so long that I didn't feel my butt anymore so I stood up, checking whether I still had it. Deciding to do a little research, I wandered around the house.

The first room I passed was Rebekah's. I looked inside, it was cleaner than my belly button with not one thing coloured pink. Rebekah must've been gone away without telling me, because she had been here a couple of minutes ago. I shrugged and while I was walking to the next room, I gave our old painting another, automatic glance. It showed us, the boys standing, me and Rebekah sitting on a chair in front, six vampires. Well, five and me, I didn't know what I was exactly.  
I didn't need blood to survive, I could live on human food, I slept, in contrary to my siblings, I wasn't unnecessarily strong nor extraordinary beautiful, I was just not getting older. End of story. I wished that I was stronger though, that I was at least able to defend myself, then Elijah wouldn't freak out so much if I went somewhere alone, which according to me was never and according to him too often. The painting had been made around 1800, when a camera didn't exist yet, one of the few things we took with us whenever we moved.

I walked further and stood in front of Stefan's closed door. He didn't like to be disturbed, especially when his door didn't stand open, so I knocked. No answer. I knocked twice. Again no answer. I tried to open it but it was locked, which made me curious of the reason. The next door on my way was Klaus's. It was wide open, like usual, and showed a very messy room. Because I had nothing better to do, I snooped around, my scent was probably already all over his stuff from the day before yesterday. After a couple of minutes, and finding nothing, I hid some of his stuff, in his own room, out of boredom. I chose some things I had never seen before, one was a triangle with an eye on it, another was a portrait from a girl he had loved. The date was on the back, 1658. It was a cute heart shaped necklace that was easy to hid between his underwear, which I refused to touch with my hands. The last thing I hid was a beautiful key, it had curls all over it, at the top shelve behind his pants. I was curious whether he would even notice it missing.

My tour through the house wasn't over yet, I had two more rooms to search in, even though I wasn't exactly looking for something. Damon's room was next. It had been a long time since I had a sneak in there, I couldn't even remember how it looked. He liked his privacy a lot so the door was never open and I nor , I thought, the other siblings knew anything about his life outside the house. Sometimes I accidently heard him on the phone, the things he said made me think he had a girlfriend. I once asked him about it but he just said it wasn't my business and that I needed to stop eaves dropping, which I didn't. Damon has a very loud voice. Standing in front of his door, I got nervous. If Damon saw me doing this...His door was probably locked, but it still felt like I betrayed him by even feeling if it was open or not. I started to place my hand on the door when another hand grabbed my shoulder and turned me around.

'' What do you think you're doing?'' Damon asked. I didn't even try to look not guilty, I'm not that good of an actress. I just looked down to the floor and saw all the dirt on Damon's shoes. It looked like mud and blood.

''Where have you been?'' I asked, actually curious but also to distract him from the fact that I was doing the thing he hated most: invading his privacy.

''Don't try to-'' he started to say but I interrupted him.

''Don't you try, where have you been? There is blood on your shoes.'' He crossed his arms and looked annoyed.  
"I am a vampire, when I drink, I sometimes-'' Damon was cut off by Elijah, who apparently had entered the house which I would've known if I had vampire hearing. Fuck my life.

"Damon!'' Elijah warned.

''I can handle it. '' I said, even though I didn't want to hear how he killed someone but I couldn't let Elijah win on this. ''Go on.''

Damon raised an eyebrow, looked at Elijah who was taking the groceries out and started whispering. ''I ripped her throat-'' but he couldn't finish because Elijah already had his hand over his mouth.

''You should stop talking.'' The voice of my oldest brother cold as ice. Damon punched his hand off like it was nothing and I was jealous. I wanted to be able to do that.

''She said she could handle it.''

''And I say she doesn't. I'm the eldest and what I say counts. Help me with the groceries, Elena. There are still a few more in the car. Thank you.'' I sighed, walked down and did what I was asked while I heard them mad whispering at each other. I was curious about the things they were saying. I literally knew almost nothing about everything that comes with being a vampire. Violence was against the rules of Elijah, talking about blood or anything that had something to do with it was forbidden. The reason? Because I wouldn't be able to cope with it. Of course it was just because I never got to deal with it that I wouldn't be able to cope. But as always, nobody listened to me. I put the heavy bags filled with vegetables and fruits on the kitchen island.

''How was your day?" Elijah asked, coming back from upstairs.

''Boring as hell because you didn't let me out of the house."

"You know why."

' "Because it's dangerous right now." ' I quoted him. ''But what is? And for how long? Why won't you tell me?" I nagged, for the fiftieth time.

"Because, " he sighed, "that's all you need to know." I rolled my eyes and pouted.

''Please!'' I begged.

''No, and that is the last thing said about it. '' Elijah gave me that cold look he only gave people when he was as serious as an alcoholic is over his alcohol, which is pretty serious. I never knew anything, they kept everything from me. It wasn't fair, just because I was the youngest and not a vampire.

Most of the time, I was glad not being one of them but sometimes, it made me feel like an outsider, like I wasn't a part of my own family. I wanted to be as strong and as fast as they were, helping them solve things, helping them to defend the citizens. But I was useless, a waste of time, the helpless baby they needed to babysit day and night, for the rest of their lives.

My second day of not going anywhere and doing nothing. I couldn't do it again.  
As soon as Elijah would walk out the door, I'd be gone too, I promised myself. I had human needs, which vampires of course didn't understand. But until Elijah left, I needed something to do so I started reading The Catcher in The Rye. We needed to read it for English and even though I had already read it when it was popular in the '50s, I wanted to read it again. Maybe I'd forgotten something. You never knew.

At page twelve, Elijah announced he was going to do some business stuff with the leader of the wolves. I told him to be careful because of their ability to kill him with a single bite but he reminded me that we had Klaus, our hybrid, who could cure him. I told him again, to be careful. Five minutes after he left, I put the book down and took my coat. The keys of the house were still in its pocket and with every step I took they rattled. Closing the door, I changed my mind about taking my bike and decided to make a walk. It wasn't long before I got to the woods that surrounded our house, the air thick and the rocks slippery. I loved the fresh air, not the here-have-two-vampires-been-letting-farts-on-purpose air from the house. I closed my eyes and sat down on a fallen tree but not for long because when I opened them, I saw something red by a big oak tree a couple of feet further, it was hard not to see. I narrowed my eyes but couldn't figure out what it was so I walked closer and the shape started to get more familiar. It was a bike, a red one. How had it gotten here? This was private ground so nobody was allowed to enter, nobody could enter. We had gates all around the woods. I looked around but saw nobody, no movements nor sound.

''Hello?" was the only thing I could think of to scream. It was what people screamed in movies, and honestly, I now got why they did it. It wasn't to get an answer, it was just hoping nobody would actually answer.

"Above you." A male voice said. I looked up and saw a handsome, muscled guy sitting on the third branch which was the longest of the tree.

''What are you doing? Do you happen to have a secret monkey-wish?'' I asked, crossing my arms. The stranger laughed and jumped on the branch right under the one he had gotten off.  
''Who knows, maybe I'd rather be a bird.''

He hopped down as if he had been doing it as long as he lived. He jumped of a little bit too easy. ''What are you? A Wolf?'' I asked, forgetting that not everyone knew about their existence.

''Apparently, I'm a monkey. Or a bird, I don't know. '' He answered and smiled but when I didn't smile back, he sighed. ''I could be a vampire.'' He said with a shrug. ''What makes you think I'm not a dead one living?''

''Because you wouldn't have come by bike. Vampires are fast runners.'' The wolf, so I thought, looked at me.

''So are wolves.''

''In wolf form, which means you're a know-it-all, bird, monkey, wolf, vampire and a liar.''

''Because I can't be all of those things?''

I nodded and crossed my arms, wondering what smart-ass answered he was going to give me now.  
In normal circumstances, I would've gone back to the house, told this guy to get off our land and watch TV. But I was so bored that I liked having someone to talk to.

''You still haven't answered my question.''

''Which one?''

''All of them.''

He sat down on the ground, leaning to the tree with his hands behind his back.

''You feel easy at home, don't you? I'm going for monkey.'' I sat down as well, on one of the lower branches but made sure I was still higher than him. The guy had his eyes closed and a smile formed on his face but disappeared quickly.

''I'm a wolf, as you expected.'' His eyes opened again and they narrowed, focusing on my face. As if examining my reaction to the fact that he's a wolf. Was I supposed to be surprised? Why did he look at me like that?

''I know what you're thinking. And I'm definitely not proud of it. But I want you to know that it wasn't my fault, I had to.''

I was confused, what was he talking about?  
''Hold your horses, what am I thinking?'' I asked him.

He started laughing but it was not long before he got serious again. ''I've never heard anyone use that expression.''

I looked at the ground, ashamed. He was the first wolf I ever met and he was just laughing at me.

''Hey, don't feel so embarrassed. I was just joking. Anyway, '' he started again  
''where was I..'' he wondered out loud, tapping his finger at his chin.

''You apparently know better than me what I was thinking.''

''You really have no idea what I'm talking about, do you?'' he asked, looking at me with a curious look. Now it switched from expecting to curious. He had more emotions than crayons had colours.

''No , I don't.'' I refused to look in his eyes. I moved from a sitting position to a lying position so that I had a view of the sky and the leaves on the tree.

''I'm a wolf.'' He said, again. As if I were stupid.

''Really?'' I pretended to be shocked.

''You have to do something before you become a wolf.''

I frowned, thinking about everything Elijah had told me about wolves.  
''Aren't people born as a wolf?''

''No, we are born with the genes to become a wolf but that's it. You still have to activate it.''

I had never heard of that, I just thought they were born and transformed at the full moon since they were a baby. ''And how do you do that?'' I asked when a long silence fell.

''Kill someone.'' I didn't know what to say so I stayed quiet. Neither one of us felt like talking, so we listened to the sounds of nature, the wind blowing leaves of the trees, animals jumping from one branch to another, birds singing.

Suddenly a hand was shaking my arm, and I fell of the branch where I, apparently, had been sleeping on.

''Ouch.'' I said, rubbing my arm.

''You fell asleep on a tree?'' Rebekah said while giving me the you-can't-be-my-sister look. I rolled my eyes and stood up. Ignoring her, I looked around. No sign that a wolf/monkey/bird/vampire/know-it-all had been here.

''Why did it smell like wolves there?'' Rebekah pulled up her nose, like it smelled very bad.

''I don't know.'' I said, too quick.

For some reason, I felt like I wasn't allowed to speak about…him. I was lying for someone whose name I didn't even know. Great.

''Well if you don't want Elijah asking questions about it, I suggest you take a long shower. Even your clothes smell like it. '' She winked like we had a secret together and walked with me to the house, human speed. As soon as we got in, I took a shower and changed, hoping nothing was left of the smell, what couldn't be washed away were the questions that were going through my head.


	4. Chapter 4

It was Monday, thankfully, so I couldn't be locked up in the house anymore. As soon as I saw Caroline, I pulled her to the side and looked around to see if anybody was listening.  
''What's up with your Sherlock attitude?'' She asked.  
''I really need to tell you something.'' I said, not able to wait to say it but before I could start, the bell rang.  
''Shit!'' I said, disappointed.  
''It'll have to wait until lunch break at, ''  
''at the fountain'' Caroline finished and winked.  
''You do make me curious, Salvatore. I've never seen you so excited about something that has anything to do with yourself. Crap, I have math, my teacher will be angry. Gotta run, bye!'' she said before she took off, almost dropping her scarf.

The next four hours felt like four days, I had never ever wanted to talk to Caroline so much. At least, there had been a little distraction from looking at how slow the minutes went, it was after second period when I ran into Matt with Jenna next to me. She started blushing while I was the one who had hit him. He apologized, she said she was sorry, which again was weird because I should've been the one apologizing but nobody listened to me, they had been too buzzy staring at each other.

It was finally lunch time and I immediately started seeking Caroline. My eyes were scanning the crowd, looking for her blond hair and high heels until I finally saw her talking to another girl we had history with. I needed to stop myself from running but I kept a quick pace.  
''Hey, got a minute?'' I asked Caroline, looking apologetically at the other girl.  
''See you later, Kristine.'' Caroline said before I dragged her away.  
''Now please tell me because I'm dying to hear it.''  
''You know I was grounded, right?''  
''Yeah, but I still don't know why. ''  
''Neither do I, to be honest, but '' I looked around before speaking again,  
'' I went outside and met someone, a boy who''  
''you met someone? A boy? How?''  
''Shh! Let me finish! '' I said, but before I could talk again, someone said ''Hi''.  
I turned around and saw Jenna, fidgeting with her shirt.  
''Jenna, right? We're kind of talking about something really important slash secret. '' Caroline said.  
''Ow, okay.'' She turned around. I sighed.  
''Hey Jenna, see you in next period, okay?'' She just nodded but I could tell her feelings were hurt.  
''I feel bad for her.''  
''Yeah me too. I'll make it up to her.''  
''Now go on, a boy. Who? What? Where?'' I told her everything, except for the wolf part. I wanted to tell her, but I wasn't sure if she wanted to know. There was only one way of knowing.  
''There is this little thing I didn't tell you but I'm not sure...it's something supernatural. '' I said and looked down at my feet. I heard her sigh.  
''I'll have to get used to is. So why not start now?'' she said. I looked up and saw her smiling which made me smile too.  
''He is a wolf. I've never really had a decent conversation for longer than ten minutes with one and he told me something about wolves that Elijah hadn't told me. '' ''what was it?''  
''He said you had to kill someone to become a wolf. '' Caroline looked shocked.  
''So basically you are saying that you met a murderer. That's messed up, Elena. '' I nodded, it felt like that too. But it also felt different. We hadn't talked about it but I remembered him saying ''it wasn't my fault''. So maybe he wasn't a murder? But he did kill someone which made you a murder, no matter how you did it.  
''But isn't it a little hypocrite to say that wolves are murderers and your siblings aren't? '' I looked up, shocked and mad that she called them murders.  
''They don't murder people! '' I said, jumping in defense.  
''How do you know? They drink blood from other people, don't they? It must've gone wrong a couple times. '' She shivered and so did I. I couldn't think of them as bad, as monsters who killed innocent people. '  
'My point is, your siblings aren't bad even though they probably have killed people, so we should be carefull about calling others bad because they killed. '' She had a point. I needed to face the fact that my siblings probably were killers too and that no one was completely bad.  
''Maybe. I wish I only knew his name, I'm probably never going to see him again.'' I said, feeling almost sad. Why did I feel sad? I've never met him before, I should care less if I saw him never again.  
''Did you tell Elijah?'' Caroline asked.  
''No! are you crazy? Only Rebeckah is a little suspicious, she smelled him but she promised not to say anything.''  
''God, it must be so fun to have a big sister, my little sister, Lili, she is just so'' From one second to another, we moved from the topic of killing people to her little ''so annoying'' sister. That's why I loved Caroline.

''I don't know if it is a good idea to come to my place Jenna. Can't we do the assignment at yours?"  
"No! My parents are repainting everything so it will stink awfully. And I'd like to see your house. Please Elena.'' I sighed and turned to my locker.  
''You'd like to come to our house, Jenna, right?'' Stefan said, who apparently stood beside me.  
''What?'' I turned to him with big eyes of wonder.  
''Yeah, it'll be fun to have one of my little sister's friend around, won't it?'' My brother who hated me had put his arm around my shoulders and acted friendly.  
''What is going on?'' I asked, not buying this good-brother thing. Stefan smiled, winked at Jenna and left with his friends. Before turning the corner, he shouted one more thing: ''So you'll come, right?'' Jenna nodded her head with a big smile. Great, I thought.  
''Finally! '' she said in a high voice which she always got when she was very excited.  
''I don't get why you want to see my house so bad.''  
"Because I'd like to know where you live and know how your family is.''  
''You really don't with mine. Trust me. "  
"Stefan looks all right. How bad can the rest be if you say that they are better?'' I sighed. I couldn't say no, I knew I had to make up for closing her out the other day and since Stefan had already invited her, there wasn't much I could do about it.  
''Can we talk about something else?''

"Here we are. " Stefan stopped in front of our house. He had offered to drive us home from school and he and Jenna had been talking and flirting the whole way. It didn't exactly help that I sat in the back and was not interested in their classes together but I got through it and could finally escape.  
Stefan opened the front door, stood back and let Jenna in first. What a gentlemen. I rolled my eyes and when I wanted to get in, he slammed the door in my face. Funny.  
''Stefan!'' I screamed even though he could've heared me if I whispered. I started looking for my keys in my pockets but I already know I left them in my other jacket. ''Jenna, can you open the door please?'' I shouted, wondering why she hasn't done it yet.  
I started to get worried, Jenna alone with Stefan, that couldn't be good. Nobody answered. What were they doing there? I sat down on the ground and took my cell.  
I called Elijah, wondering where he was when you needed him. He didn't answer his phone, which was very unusual, so I called my second choice, Damon. After the fourth ring, he answered. He told me that he was in another city, visiting old friends. I sighed and hung up. He wasn't going to be home soon. Right before I wanted to dial Rebeckah's number, her car drove on the ramp. I stood up, glad that rescue had come. I was already planning my revenge on Stefan by telling Elijah what he had done when Rebeckah walked to the door, dressed in a tight red dress with her hair pinned up. '  
'Why are you standing here? Who else is in the house?'' she asked me.  
''A friend. Can you please open the door? She is alone with Stefan and I don't trust it.'' She raised an eyebrow but opened the door without further questions asked. I walked in and saw them talking on the couch, having fun.  
''Well thanks, Jenna. '' I said but she ignored me.  
''Jenna?" I ask, not sure what's going on until it hit me.  
''Stefan! You compelled her?'' I asked in utter amazement. He turned his head to me, winked and started laughing with something Jenna said I couldn't hear. I turned to Beckah.  
''He compelled her!'' I said to her, again.  
''She is right, Stefan. You shouldn't compel her friends. '' She said to him. He just shrugged it off.  
"Wait until Elijah hears about it.'' I threatened and sat down on the kitchen island.  
''He won't.'' Stefan said and erased Jenna's memory. She blinked and looked around her.  
''Wow, this is a nice house.'' She said but I wasn't paying attention.  
''Yes he will, when he comes''  
''You won't tell a thing, Elena.'' Rebeckah interrupted me. I turned around, again, my neck was starting to hurt from all the turning, and stared at her with a questioning look.  
''He has had a lot on his mind the past few days, some siblings fighting won't do him good so neither of you will tell. Understood? From now on, you will come to me or Damon. " Stefan grinned and my mouth fell open.  
''But''  
''That's the last thing I want to hear about it.'' I crossed my arms, mad. It was practically giving Stefan a free pass to do whatever he liked. God. Jenna coughed a little unsure and I had almost forgotten her.  
''Rebeckah, this is my friend from school, Jenna. Jenna, this is my sister, Rebeckah. ''  
"Nice to meet you. We don't get to meet a lot of friends of Elena."  
"Nice to meet you too. It is also not easy meeting the siblings of Elena. '' Jenna responded and I rolled my eyes. After they talked a little bit about how I did at school and how I was around my friends, Klaus barged in.  
''Elijah won't be home soon, so I brought something with me. '' He said where after a tall skinny blond girl came through the door.  
"I'm very hungry so I'm just going to'' but before he could finish his sentence, Rebeckah interrupted him.  
'' We have a visitor, a friend of Elena. Jenna." Klaus looked at her from the top to her toes and it gave me the creeps at how he looked at her. Jenna looked like she felt uncomfortable under his stare and nodded friendly as a greeting.  
''Well, Elena. Apparently, I won't be needing this girl anymore. '' He said , pointing at the blond behind him.  
''If you only dare.'' I said.  
''Klaus.'' Rebeckah warned. He rolled his eyes, muttered something about us being boring and went to his room with the girl. After we heard his door shut, Jenna started talking.  
''Is it what I think it is?''  
''Kind of.'' I tried not to lie and it wasn't a lie, he won't only use her for the blood but probably also for sex. She cleared her throat to get the awkward silence that had fallen away.  
''So who is the youngest and who is the oldest? '' I named all my brothers and sister according to our birthdates and told her a little bit about their characters. Rebeckah had left again, leaving us with no food. There'd probably be a lot of healthy food in the fridge but I really didn't feel like being healthy. Klaus had mentioned Elijah not coming home , I wondered where he was but besides getting a little worried, I also felt relieved that I could order a pizza and after explaining that my siblings didn't need food, that they would take care of their own, we ordered two large pizzas. Half an hour later, the doorbell rang, probably the delivery guy with our pizzas. I opened the door and saw a familiar face.  
''Aren't you the bartender who gets underaged girls drunk?'' I asked. He smiled. ''Yeah, remember my name? Cause I happen to have one. And considering you ran into me, you should know my name by now.' 'I looked down, ashamed and acted like I tried to remember but I sucked at remembering names, I already knew I wouldn't be able to remember it.  
''I...''  
''Matt. His name is Matt, isn't it?'' Jenna who had come out of the couch, suddenly stood next to me.  
''So someone remembered. Are you too in our school? '' Matt asked.  
''I've never seen you before.'' he added.  
''Yeah, I'm Jenna. But I'm a newbie.''  
''Well, nice to meet you. ''  
''So, as to make it up to you for running into you, want to drink something with us next Friday?''  
Jenna, she couldn't have been more obvious, got really excited or nervous, I couldn't tell the difference, and started pinching my arm so hard that my blood stopped flowing. Matt answered that he would love to and asked if he could bring a friend, which was okay for us.  
He gave us the pizza's, waved goodbye and closed the door.

''I can't believe you know him! He is so handsome! I've been eyeing him for a while now, waiting for an opportunity to talk to him. ''  
''He is very cute. You should go for it.'' I said.  
''So, you give me the permission to?'' she asked shyly. I was confused.  
''What do you mean?''  
''Well, he has been talking to you, not to me and I assumed'' I cut her off before she could say more ridiculous things.  
''No! I mean, he is cute and friendly but he is not boyfriend materiel to me. Don't worry.'' I told her with a smile. It's not that I knew who was boyfriend materiel because I had never had one, one I loved at least. I've had boyfriends but they were just for status, not for the love or a relationship or any of that. It's actually very pathetic if I think about it, I've lived for so many years now and I've never had a boyfriend where I was in love with. I wondered how it felt, being in love with someone. I couldn't imagine wanting to be with someone all the time, seeing them as perfect, not minding their imperfections, being so open to someone. Someday, I'll probably know what it's like but thinking about it won't help so I pushed it to the back of my mind.  
''Thanks!'' she said, interrupting my thoughts, and threw her arms around me. I awkwardly hugged her back, we weren't the affectionate kind of people so I rarely hugged. We wanted to start our pizza's when Damon walked in.  
''Hey sis and girl next to my sis. ''  
''Hi, I'm Jenna. '' She greeted Damon who smiled his most charming smile.  
''Your brother, is very, very, very handsome.'' She whispered. I giggled because she didn't know he could hear her. I took a peek at him and saw his ego taking a boost but I gave him a warning look not to react. He took the hint because he saluted.  
''What are you eating?'' He asked, looking at the pizza in front of us.  
''Oh shit.'' I had totally forgotten it. Damon agreed with Elijah on a few things, like the eating habits. He cared a lot about the appearance of people. Jenna looked confused at me and I was trying to make an excuse but couldn't find one so I did what I was best at, I kept shut.  
''You know how bad that food is, it'll get you fat.'' He looked mad.  
''I thought you knew better.'' He took the pizza away and threw it in the bin.  
''But''  
''Shut up.'' He said, not mad but just silent.  
''Make something else. Elijah will be home in an hour. You're grounded, Elena.''  
''Because I ate pizza?'' I asked, in utter disbelief.  
''No way.'' I said, to my own amazement. I never stood up to any of my siblings, I always obeyed. And I was immediately reminded why. He swung me over his shoulder, ran in one second to my room, put me in bed and closed the door. I immediately got out and started pulling on my door but he had locked it.  
''You've got to be kidding me!'' I shouted, angry about not being able to do something. I leaned my ear against the door and listened. He compelled Jenna, making her leave. Great. She came one evening and got compelled twice. I wished Elijah was here, he would never let this happen. Realizing he wasn't going to let me out anymore, at least, not this evening, I put my pajamas on and heard the front door. I quickly ran to my door and tried to listen. It was Rebeckah, she asked where Jenna and I were. Damon told her about what happened, Rebeckah said he had acted a little bit over the top but Damon said he needed to so he could make sure I never did anything that wasn't allowed. I rolled my eyes. As if I could do such a thing with five vampires watching my back.  
''Can I come out?'' I asked in a normal voice.  
''No. '' was my immediate response. I decided not to go begging and went to bed, at eight 'o clock. An hour later, I woke up from a hand going through my hair.  
''Elijah,'' I said, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. My eyes adjusted to the dark and I was immediately reminded of what Rebeckah had said, he did look tired even though he was a vampire. He looked like he had been through a hell of a difficult time, so I just kept shut and said nothing about the recent events. ''Go back to sleep, I'll talk to you in the morning.'' He said where after he gave me a goodnight kiss and disappeared.


	5. Chapter 5

The next morning, I woke up at five thirty because I had gone to bed at eight and I usually slept around eight hours so sleeping ten, was long. I got dressed and walked towards the balcony, looking down at our living room, hoping no one was home, especially not Damon, I was still mad at him. Or Stefan. Maybe Elijah'd be here and I could talk to him about what's going on, which I'm probably not allowed to know. I heard two voices talking, Rebeckah's and Elijah's. I couldn't see them so they must've been standing under the balcony. Trying not to breath too hard or make a sound, I caught some of what they were saying.  
''…come for her, I can feel...'' Rebeckah started talking lower, too low for me to hear but I didn't give up. This time, Elijah spoke.  
''I know, I have the same….'' He paused for a minute and sighed.  
''…don't know….If only Elena…of herself.'' My name? What did I have to do with anything? Maybe he had found out about last Friday, when Caroline had come to sleep and we had been home alone. Or Rebeckah told him about the wolf in the woods. This was either way not good.  
''Why are you up, it is five thirty in the morning.'' Damon said, looking on his watch. I pretended I didn't hear him and looked ahead of me, my arms leaning on the bar.  
Why didn't vampires sleep, it would've been much more handy now. He sighed.  
''So you're mad?'' He asked. Of course was I mad, and now, I was twice as mad because he had betrayed my position to Elijah and Rebeckah. As soon as they paid attention to their surroundings, they must've heard my heart beating and immediately stopped talking. They came in my view, away from the balcony.  
''Elena? Why are you up so early?'' I rolled my eyes.  
''What were you talking about? '' I asked them, arms crossed, trying to look mad. Rebeckah and Elijah looked at each other.  
''What did you hear?'' Rebeckah asked. I focused my eyes on Elijah, letting him notice I trusted him and expected him to tell the truth.  
''What were you talking about?'' I asked once again, ignoring Rebeckah.  
''Elena, ''Elijah started and I knew what he was going to say, that it was none of my business, that I didn't need to worry.  
''I want to know. It was about me, wasn't it? '' I interrupted him. Damon was leaning against the door behind me, probably enjoying the spectacle. Stefan and Klaus weren't home yet because if they were, they would've been up here already. I knew they weren't going to tell me but I was sick of it , sick of being left out, sick of being the different one. When no one spoke, tears fell down my cheeks. I went back to my room and wanted to lock the door but I didn't have the key. I sat down on my bed, legs curled up, my head between my arms. ''Let her have some time for herself.'' I heard Rebeckah say. I fell back asleep within a couple of minutes and dreamed about the wolf, I dreamed of me and him as a normal couple with a normal family.

I ignored everyone for two days but soon gave up. I didn't like fighting with my siblings but I hadn't forgiven them yet, last week hadn't been easy and no one had apologized for what they had done. Our routine was back as it was, without any sleepovers or guests. I also hadn't seen the wolf anymore which might have been good, if I didn't miss him so much. I often went back to the tree, sitting there for a couple of minutes, but Elijah had even become more protective, I couldn't go out in our yard without telling one of the vampires who stood by the window and watched the whole time. It was weird but I got used to it. The week passed by, without any words said about the conversation between Elijah and Rebeckah. I also didn't ask. If they wanted to keep it a secret, fine. But I could play the same game, I wasn't going to tell anything anymore. The next school week was even more boring than the last one and I was tired of getting lectures about things I already knew. There weren't much things I hadn't learned already on previous schools, I took almost every advanced class, had straight A's but never did anything. Life was easy, in a certain kind of way. The bell rang, it was Friday and Jenna had been thrilled to go to our double but not actually double date. At Eight 'o clock, I saw my chance when only Stefan was home with a girl in his bedroom. I sneaked out, ran to Jenna's car waiting for me at the end of our street and got in, glad I escaped. Ten minutes later, we arrived. I was curious who Matt would bring with him, I didn't know many people from our school. We walked in and I saw Matt sitting with his back to us, next to him a guy with black raven hair.  
''How do I look?'' Jenna nervously asked.  
''Could be better.'' I said.  
''Shit!'' she started to panic.  
''It was just a joke, Jenna. You look fabulous.'' I assured her. We walked towards Matt and his friend but when we faced them, my mouth dropped.  
''Hi, I'm Jake. You must be Elena.'' the wolf said. I looked at Matt and then back to the guy from my garden. ''Hi.'' Jenna said because I was speechless. I had hoped to see him again but hadn't expected to, especially not this soon. We sat down, all my questions going through my head again.  
''So Jake. Are you in our school?'' I asked, after finding my voice back.  
''No, I'm not. I know Matt from practice, we do martial arts together. '' He smiled and his perfect white teeth showed. Show off, I thought.  
"I'll get us some drinks,'' Jake said.  
''What do you guys want?'' he asked. After everyone had ordered, he left the table and went to the bar.  
''What's going on, Elena? You're acting weird.'' Jenna told me. I looked at her, then at Matt and saw he was confused too.  
''I'm going to help him with the drinks.'' I announced before leaving the table. I wanted to talk about last Sunday.  
''Who are you?'' I asked when I had taken a seat next to him at the bar while we were waiting for our order to come.  
''I'm Jake.'' He said while winking.  
''I know your name, you just told me but, where do you come from? What were you doing in my backyard? And '' but I stopped. I couldn't ask him about the killing part, I just couldn't. Especially not here. He must've noticed I was doubting but thankfully, didn't go deeper on it.  
''I was told to go there.'' He said, as if it was the most normal thing in the world.  
''By who?'' I asked, suddenly noticing how close we were, his hand almost touching mine, his knee already touching mine so I moved a little bit but did it subtle.  
''One of our pack leaders. We get these weird tasks every now and then, it's part of the training. '' I narrowed my eyes.  
''So someone told you to climb a tree in someone's backyard?'' I asked, disbelief filling my voice.  
''Yes. Well, it wasn't asked like that but…they gave me an address and told me to observe and rapport. So I did. ''  
''They gave you our address?'' I asked, finding this a little weird. ''Yeah, it's always another address. It's just part of the training to be able to spy and all that.'' He shrugged.  
''Why do you tell me this?''  
''You asked.'' I blinked. Honesty wasn't something I was used to.  
''Matt and Jenna are staring at us.'' I turned around.  
''Why?'' I asked.  
''Because we're still sitting here, with the drinks.'' I turned back at the bar and hadn't noticed the drinks.  
''Oh. We should''  
''Yeah.'' We took the drinks to the table and sat down silently. I wanted to ask more questions but it should wait. Matt nor Jenna asked us to explain why we had been gone so long so no words were said about it. The rest of the evening was actually fun, I was glad it didn't fulfill my expectations. At eleven, Elijah stormed through the door and got mad at one of the waiters. Me and Jenna were the only ones who could see him because we faced the door. The guys noticed our attention moved to something behind them so they turned their heads. Jake's eyes widened, mine too. I immediately ducked behind the table. Matt, Jenna and Jake gave me a weird look. I told him the raging guy couldn't see me here, I also mentioned I didn't want to go in further details. Jake suddenly stood up, his fists balled. I couldn't see what was happening so I moved a little until my eyes were only visible above the table. Elijah had moved, and so had the waiter. They were heading outside, both full of anger. I stood up, ready to go after them but Jake was ahead of me. I told Matt and Jenna to stay there, but they wouldn't listen. I sighed. I tried to explain it was nothing, they needn't worry. They weren't convinced yet so I promised I'd explain it later but that they needed to trust me for now. This was something they could live with and said they would stay here, waiting for us. I nodded and went after Jake. As I opened the door, a cold breeze came out and I rubbed my arms. I had forgotten my jacket inside. I was standing on the parking lot and saw Jake getting closer to an alley. I ran to catch up with him and to get warmer. He gestured to come closer but walking, not running. I obeyed and when I stood next to him, I started to wonder why he was here.

''He'', Jake said pointing to the waiter fighting , '' is one of the wolves of my pack.'' He whispered so low I almost hadn't heard him.  
''The other one,'' I said while looking at him, ''is my brother.'' We both were confused, not knowing what was going on. Elijah and the wolf started fighting, it was obvious Elijah was mad about something the wolf had done but it looked like he didn't know what he had done wrong. It was all I could make up about the fight. After Elijah had thrown the wolf against the wall, I pushed Jake down. He wanted to go and help the tall guy. It was none of our business , now I sounded like Elijah, and he probably couldn't handle a vampire. We kept put, watching them throw a few more punches at each other until Elijah got a phone call and the fight ended. We stood too far away to hear what he was saying.  
''He hates violence, '' I told Jake, standing up for my brother who looked cruel.  
''He always gets mad at my siblings if they fight or hurt someone. I don't get why he would hurt him.'' I stood up to leave, I didn't want to watch this anymore. To my surprise, Jake followed. We walked past the door of the Mystic Grill, looked for a spot out of view to sit and sat down. I put my elbows on my knees and sighed.  
''Your brother, you say he is a vampire. Is he a newborn?'' Jake asked. I shook my head.  
''We're the originals.''  
''The first vampires?'' He asked.  
''So you've heard about us. '' I smiled. I couldn't sit, I needed something to do. I stood up and started walking around in little circles while I explained our history. The whole story long he sat silently on the pavement. ''What are you thinking?'' I asked, getting dizzy from the circles. I sat back down, next to him. He turned his head towards me.  
''That you're very special. '' His face was serious, so was mine. I didn't know how to react so I looked away. Coward, I thought. Suddenly, I remembered what we were doing here. I took my phone and was surprised. On the screne stood I had ten missed calls, five from Elijah, three from Rebeckah and two from Damon. Shit. They must've noticed I went away. I didn't feel like calling them back because they would know for sure I went away. So I just texted Jenna everything was okay, and we'd be back inside soon.  
''Matt, is he'' I asked. ''No he is not a wolf. We really only do martial arts together.'' Jake smiled. I smiled too. ''I wonder why Marcus was fighting with your brother. ''  
''Yeah me too.'' So Marcus was his name. I needed to remember, c'mon, Elena I told myself.  
''Maybe you can ask him about it?'' I tried.  
''I was planning to. Aren't you going to ask your brother? '' ''If I wanted to be killed by him, yes I would. '' I looked up. The sky was empty, not a single star was shining. ''I'm not supposed to go outside alone, without any of my siblings. I wasn't even supposed to go outside at all. '' ''Yet here you are.'' I laughed and told him about Stefan, the relationship I had with him and how I got away. I also told him about everyone else, what they were like, what they liked, what they hated, I told him things I had never told anyone. Things I couldn't tell anyone. It felt good to say it all out loud, to tell someone all my frustrations about them. The best part was, he understood. He knew how it was not to be able to say everything you wanted to say, to be extra careful with everything you did or said.  
''Here you are!'' Jenna and Matt came out, holding our jackets.  
''You texted me half an hour ago you'd be back in soon. I tried to call you, texted you but you didn't answer.'' I looked at my cellphone, saw one missed call and two messages. I raised my eyebrow.  
''You must've been so worried, you send me at least two messages! '' I said, looking from Jenna to Matt and back. Jake knew what I was going at.  
''Yeah, Matt. It was awful being alone with a girl, wasn't it?'' We both started laughing when we saw their faces going red in one second.  
''Shit, it is already eleven thirty? I need to get back home.'' I announced and took my jacket from Jenna. I looked at my cell, ten new messages. I didn't even bother opening them.  
''I'll walk if you'd like to stay, it's not that far. ''  
''Or I can drive you home, I'm here by car too. '' Jake offered. I smiled, thankful I didn't have to walk because if Elijah found out, he'd be furious. Jenna said she'd take Matt home. After saying goodbye, they went back inside.  
''Thanks.'' I said.  
''For what? I haven't brought you home yet.'' Jake replied. He winked and I rolled my eyes. He knew damn well why I thanked him. We walked towards a black range rover.  
''So you're rich and have a good taste for cars. '' He laughed.  
''Guess I don't have to tell you my address.'' I joked.  
''Nope, I remember. Fourth tree on the right, second branch.'' We both started laughing, it felt nice. While he was driving we talked and I had been long it since I had such a good time. I was even sad when he pulled over, a street away as I had asked.  
''See you soon.'' I hope, I added in my mind. He nodded.  
''Hey, '' he said when I pulled the door of the car open.  
''I lost my number, can I have yours?'' He winked and even though the joke was lame, it was cute. I gave him my number, hoped he'd send me a message this evening already, god was I greedy. He drove off and I went back to our yard. Stefan immediately ran into me but instead of scolding at me, he gave me a hug. I was too amazed to hug back. It didn't last long though. He soon let me loose, threw me over his shoulder and ran inside. Once in the house, he locked the door with all its locks, which were many.  
''Context?'' I asked.  
''You!'' Stefan said, his voice full of anger and something else I had never heard with him, concern.  
''Where have you been? Everybody is looking for you.'' He said. He paced around the kitchen island, clenching and unclenching his fists over and over again. I didn't know what to say.  
''What do you mean everybody is looking for me?'' I was sure Elijah had been doing something else the past hour, I had seen him. I looked around, nobody appeared to be home but Stefan.  
''Don't dare to move. '' Stefan commanded. I held my hands up like the police always asked if they caught you. Not that I had ever been caught at anything, I was the good kind of people. Stefan called someone, telling him or her I was safe and home. After the call, he texted a few other people. I assumed my siblings. I looked at my cellphone again, fifteen new messages now. ''Why didn't you answer any of them?'' Stefan asked, still trembling from anger. I knew I needed to be careful with what I said. ''I hadn't seen them until now.'' ''Bullshit! You're a liar, Elena. '' ''Can I go to my room?'' I asked. ''I said you needed to,'' but he stopped talking in the middle of his sentence. ''Stay.'' He ordered, as if I was a dog, and went downstairs, to the basement. To be a little rebellious, I set a little step to the side. ''I said stay. Why can't you ever listen?'' He growled and took my arms, dragging me to one of the pillars that held the house. I hadn't noticed the rope in his hands until he tied them around me and the pillar. ''Are you serious? '' I asked, not liking where this was going.  
''You've just proven my point. If I turn around you'll be gone again. This is the only way I am sure to know you stay.''  
''This is definitely child abuse.'' My arms started to get hurt from being pulled back. The rope was making cuts on my wrists, which didn't help either. I slowly slid down, hoping a sitting position would feel better and I was right. It was much better. A second later, Elijah got in, put his phone down on our kitchen island and looked at me with the glimmer in his eyes from earlier when he had been fighting still in his eyes. For the first time in my life, I was scared of him. Maybe Caroline was right, they were killers.


	6. Chapter 6

I looked to the floor. I didn't want to see my brother as a murderer, I couldn't. I hoped Elijah would cut the ropes off but he didn't. I wasn't going to ask so I'd probably sit here for a while. He went upstairs, to his room without saying a word. Stefan looked even more angry at me.  
''See what you did?'' he screamed.  
''I..'' But that was all I could say because he threw something against the wall which made a hard noise when it shattered To pieces. I had closed my eyes but opened them again. It was a chair. Except now, it were just a lot of pieces of wood. A third of a second later, Damon came home, also through the window.  
''What were you thinking? 'Oh, let's make all of my siblings worry, yeah, that seems like a great idea. Why not?' '' Damon said, imitating my voice.  
''That's not''  
''what you intended to do. Of course not. But the thing is , Elena, it is the only reason I can come up with to leave without telling anyone and not answering your phone while it clearly works. See why I don't understand?''  
I let my head hang down.  
''Will you untie me?'' I asked, looking at him. Damon shook his head and sighed.  
''I really need a drink, I'm off.'' he said where after he left the house, probably to Alaric's. I had still no idea what was going on, this was another level of overreacting, even for my family. I let my head rest against the hard pillar and closed my eyes.  
''Where are Rebekah and Klaus?'' I asked after a while.  
''Rebekah is with Mikael, Klaus, who knows.'' Mikael was Rebekah's boyfriend, a vampire. Me and him got along well, I liked him and there weren't a lot of boyfriends of Rebekah I liked. Mikael was different, somehow. They were together for four years now, he moved with us last time. I sighed. Stefan being worried, it was the weirdest thing I had ever seen. If I'd even considered him caring about me, I guessed that he must feel guilty because he hadn't paid attention and I got away. But that was too human for Stefan.

A few minutes later, Klaus got home.  
''Please untie me.'' I asked, he was my last chance because Rebekah probably wouldn't come back.  
''Why are you tied ?' He asked, starting to untie the ropes.  
''Stefan. '' I said. Stefan was still standing in the kitchen, drinking what looked like coffee but was probably blood. It was gross. I rubbed my wrists, they saw red from the ropes even though I had only been sitting there for less than ten fifteen minutes. I stood up and headed upstairs but Stefan stood in my way.  
''What?'' I asked. I wanted to talk to Elijah, apologize for making him worry but also telling him I wanted more freedom.  
''Don't go to Elijah. Let him be. He has a lot more on his mind than having to deal with a little brat. ''  
''You really need to stop bossing me around, telling me what to do, Stefan.'' I said his name with a lot of venom, more than I thought I could. I tried to push him to the side, I looked like a toddler who tried to move a wall. Never had I ever had the urge to hit someone so bad so I put a little step back to punch him in the chest but before I succeeded, he got a hold on my wrist.  
''You sure you want to speak like that to a vampire, who is stronger and faster than you?'' He growled.  
''And who also happens to be my brother.'' I added, trying to kick him. He sighed.  
''You'll never learn, won't you?'' Stefan threw me against the wall. It wasn't very hard but it had been hard enough for me to gasp for breath. The clap had punched the air out of my lungs and my back started to get sore. I felt tears sting in my eyes but I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction.  
''Harsh.'' Klaus commented, smiling. Stefan bent down but stayed on his feet so he was a little higher than me. ''You'll listen. Besides, when was the last time Elijah gave you vervain? '' he added. My face stayed blank. It had been a long time ago, not too long for it to be out of my system yet but enough time to have not much left.  
''Thought so. '' Stefan smiled.  
''You're going to compel her?'' Klaus wondered.  
''What choice do I have?'' He asked, shrugged and smiled. He enjoyed this too much. I put my head between my arms, closing my eyes but knew this couldn't stop him.  
''That won't work, I just showed you how strong I am. Now, be good and look into my eyes.'' He grabbed my chin and let me look up and before I realized I had opened my eyes, he said:  
''You will go to the couch and you'll stay there until I say you can leave. Go.'' He let loose and I gritted my teeth, standing while I didn't even want to stand up. My feet walked to the couch while I did my best trying not to obey but it was impossible. I had never been compelled before. I always wondered why people couldn't resist it but know I knew. I hated it. I sat down. No matter how bad I wanted to stand up, I didn't. I couldn't.  
''You're going to regret this.'' I threatened even though there was nothing I could do. I wondered what Elijah was doing, he must've heard all of this.  
''Elijah!'' I yelled.  
''He's not here. Not anymore.'' Klaus said;  
''I heard him leave right before you gave the wall a little kiss.''  
''Funny.'' I said.  
''So basically, the situation is as following: we are alone and we can compel you. I'm kind of loving this. '' Klaus said. Stefan started smiling, realizing where Klaus was getting at. I buried my head in my arms. This wasn't good.

I slammed my locker shut. ''It was unbearable, Caroline. Trust me, you never want to be compelled, it was like I couldn't control my body, my feet moved when I didn't want them to. They made me waitress the whole evening, every time they needed something, they told me to fetch it. '' Caroline laughed and I gave her an angry look.  
''I'm sorry.'' She tried to put on a sincere face but had trouble not to laugh a little. ''You also mentioned something about Elijah's phone earlier? I couldn't understand because Ms. Appelo was nagging about that stupid story 'A perfect Day for Bananafish'. Why did the writer even get famous? I mean, it is a little weird and''  
''Caroline!'' I interrupted. ''Me.''I pointed at myself. ''The focus for the coming five minutes is on me, please. ''  
''Right. I'll do my best. So, tell me. ''  
''They let me do all kinds of stuff, go to the kitchen and get some liquor, get chips and all that but when they had ordered me to make popcorn, I needed to wait for it to be ready.'' I went on and told her about Elijah's phone I had found on the kitchen island and about the texts that were in it. I had no clue about what it was but it seemed to be about a girl.  
One of them had said: The wolves. It was from Alaric. I didn't know he was a friend of Elijah.  
There was also a text from Elijah to Damon and Rebekah: They'll give her back, I won't give them a choice. Who'd give who back to who? He had erased the rest of them or he didn't have any more messages. Elijah had always been one of the calling types .

Caroline said she also had no idea what it could mean but before we had the chance to discuss it, Jenna and Bonnie joined which made us move on to another topic: the party at Tyler's.  
Caroline had been looking forward to it for weeks, so she said, even though it had been announced only two weeks ago. After discussing what we were all wearing, we waved goodbye. I stepped to the other side of the street, looking for Elijah's car. He usually waited here but he was never too late.

After ten minutes, I took my phone but saw Stefan's car at the parking lot. I frowned and put my phone away. I walked over and saw the car was locked. Since when did Stefan go to school by car? He always ran, it was easier and, so he said, the wind was good for his hair. A few feet away were a couple of guys standing around a girl, I recognized one of Stefan's friends. Maybe Stefan was there too. I headed towards the guys but something felt wrong so I decided to sneak up on them and hid behind the nearest tree. From where I was standing, I was able to see a girl that looked a little younger than me, her face scared but also determined. The older boys were standing with their back to me so I couldn't see what they were doing but when the biggest guy of them grabbed the girl by the arm, I ran to her without thinking. But before I could help, he suddenly flew back, hard against a car that had been standing a few feet away. Amazed, I watched him get up and smile, cleaning the dirt of his pants. There were six guys, all football players with a lot of muscles.  
The one that should've been in a lot of pain but wasn't, said ''Was that all you got?'' He laughed.  
''You'll need to do better than that, doll.'' Two tall guys who stood closest suddenly noticed me.  
''What are you looking at?'' the one with a lot of zips on his face said. He grabbed my arm and put me next to the girl.  
''What did you see?'' The biggest guy said.  
His pants were torn a little and his hair contained more gel than actual hair. I started to think that he was the one who was the leader.  
I crossed my arms, refused to speak to them. I looked at all the boys their faces but didn't recognize any but Stefan's friend who was standing in the back, not coming in between. Good friend you are, I thought.  
''Answer me! '' the leader said.  
''I saw nothing.'' I said, not knowing what else to say. I didn't know how much he knew about the supernatural world and also didn't want to give him too much information. I started to move forward, back to the car and gestured to the girl to follow. She looked more scared than before but she nodded.  
A chest stopped me.  
I groaned.  
''What?'' I said. I looked him in the eyes and moved to the left to go around him but he also went to the left. ''Where do you think you're going? We're not done with the two of you, not at all.'' He said. The one with the zips laughs and winked at me. I felt like puking.  
''Roger, you can have her, Louis, take this one.'' He pointed at the guy with the zips when he said Louis. Louis came to me and started kissing me in the neck. I pushed away, shocked someone would just do something like that. I looked at the other girl, this Roger guy was doing the same to her.  
''Stop it! '' we both screamed. I did not see this end well but fortunately, I was wrong. Suddenly, Stefan was holding Louis in the air, feet above the ground.  
''That is my sister, dumbass.'' He said through clenched teeth, obviously trying to keep it together. He looked at me.  
''You, get in the damn car, take the girl with you.''  
''I'm Elena, by the way.'' I told her, trying to joke to break the tension while we walked to the car. I turned my head around to see Stefan arguing with the leader and right before he could punch him, I turned my head back. I didn't want to see that, he shouldn't have punched him even though he deserved it.  
''I'm Willow.'' She smiled a little and wanted to look over her shoulder but I stopped her. ''Don't look.'' ''Why?'' She asked. I just shook my head and guided her toward the car. Only a second later, Stefan was with us and got behind the wheel.  
''Where do you live?'' He asked Willow.  
''A block away from here. '' He nodded and started the car. I looked through the window, trying not to focus on the fact of what my brother did to the football players. We dropped Willow of and didn't say another word for the whole ride home. It wasn't until we were home that I remembered how I got in trouble in the first place. ''Since when do you take the car?'' I asked while we got out.  
He ignored me and went inside. I rolled my eyes and followed.

Damon, Rebekah and Mikael were inside. ''How do you make it happen to take half an hour to get here while school is only seven minutes away?'' Damon asked. He had a glass of Bourbon in his right hand but judging by the way he behaved, it was one of his firsts. I shrugged and greeted Mikael. He asked me how school was and all that but I didn't feel like answering in detail so I shrugged.

''Why wasn't Elijah at school to pick me up?'' I asked Rebekah while sitting down on the other couch.

''He punished Stefan. He needs to take you to and from school every day from now on, for a month.'' Rebekah answered.

I grinned. I knew how much he hated cars and driving them.

''I wouldn't laugh so hard about it, it wasn't the only thing. '' I raised my eyebrow.

''He also grounded Stefan and Klaus which means they stay home with you. ''

''What?! No! '' I raised my hands in disbelief. ''That is punishing me too while I didn't''

''you didn't do anything?'' Rebekah said with an angry parent look on her face.

I stood up.

''It's still not fair. '' I couldn't help but to have the last word. Damon pushed me back in the chair, which slid a little backwards.

''We're not done with you.''  
I felt a cold shiver. It was the same thing the guy had said a few minutes earlier. Damon noticed my sudden fear but so did the other vampires. I hated their super hearing which made them able to tell if I were lying or how I was feeling, all based on the speed of my heart. Mikael was the first one to speak.

''Elena, what's wrong?'' I looked away, fidgeting with my T-shirt. I didn't want to tell them, they'd become worried and I wanted to prove I could look after myself but what had happened didn't help me get to my goals. But I couldn't keep quiet, I needed to say something else. I wished I was more creative than I was because the only  
thing I could come up with to say was: ''Nothing. I'm fine. '' Great, very believable. I was glad Elijah walked in which distracted everyone. I ran to him and gave him a hug, I hadn't seen him since yesterday and I hoped he wasn't too mad at me. I felt relieved when he hugged me back. ''Is it activated?'' Damon asked. I stepped away from Elijah. ''Is what activated?'' I asked. Elijah sighed and scratched the back of his head. He always did this when he was about to tell someone something they wouldn't like.  
He lifted me on the kitchen island so we were on eye height.

''I know you think I always nag.''  
''That's not''

''Let me finish.'' I kept shut.

''It is dangerous outside, more than you can imagine. The only thing we can do to keep you safe , to protect you , is to keep you locked inside. '' I frowned.  
I wanted to tell him to tell me what was dangerous because now, I was hiding from something I didn't know. But I let him talk, not sure it would help to ask  
about it.

''That's why you can't go outside anymore, unless one of us is with you.''  
''Isn't that what we've been doing for the last couple of weeks? '' I asked confused. Damon sighed loudly and rolled his eyes.  
''You literally can't take a step outside without one of us holding your hands, Blondie.'' The Blondie comment got him an angry look from Rebekah. Even though my hair color was brown, Damon called everyone who he ought dumb a Blondie. Rebekah though, was blond and she didn't like it all when Damon said something like that. I still didn't get it and Elijah knew it. He put me on the ground, in front of the door. ''Try to go outside. '' He said. Not knowing where this was going to, I obeyed but before I  
could feel the fresh air from the woods around me, I bumped into an invisible wall. I stumbled back and though I must've hit something and tried again. The second  
I tried to step through the door, I got bumped back inside.  
''What have you done?'' I asked, nearly whispering and fighting my tears.


	7. Chapter 7

I started punching and kicking against the invisible wall, trying to break it somehow even though it was impossible. But I couldn't stay in the house forever, I really couldn't. My hands started to throb and I knew they would swell later on but I didn't care. I kept hitting and hitting until Michael grabbed my arms and lifted me from the floor so I couldn't kick nor punch anymore. Instead, I aimed for him, I wanted to go away, to break free. The minute I realized he was the person who had the less say in all of this was him, I stopped and hung still in his arms. He put me down and I looked at Elijah, hoping he'd see the hurt in my eyes. And then, I went upstairs, to my room. After an hour, I started to get hungry. It was nearly five thirty in the evening but my stomach thought it was seven 'o clock. Great. I looked at my door, not feeling like grabbing something. I walked to the door and put my ear against it. I could hear Elijah and Michael talking.  
''Maybe if you'd tell-'' Michael started.  
''No, I don't want her to know. I don't want her to worry about that kind of stuff, she needs to be as regular as can be, she needs a careless life like every average teenager. I know that's what she wants. '' Elijah replied.  
''But she is not an average teenager. '' He was right. I wasn't. If Elijah wasn't going to tell me what I needed to know, I 'd figure it out on my own. A knock on the door surprised me and I ran back to my bed, taking a book so it looked like I was actually doing something.  
''What?'' I asked. The door went open and Rebekah came in with a delicious meal. I literally already could taste it and cursed her for coming to me in human speed. She had closed the door behind her and set down the plate. I immediately started eating but didn't take my eyes off her.  
''What do you want?''  
''You know we love you, right?'' She said. This was not the good time to get sentimental and I even didn't like being sentimental when I was in the mood for it but I nodded.  
''Good.'' She said, getting lost in her own thoughts. It wasn't until I finished my plate she started talking again. ''We asked a witch for the curtain. ''  
''Curtain? '' I said.  
''Yeah, well, they call it a curtain. ''  
''I call it a wall that stands in the way of my life. '' I might exaggerated a little but it still wasn't fun to find out you'd be locked up.  
Rebekah sighed.  
''You don't need to be here all the time, it is just that when you're here, you won't sneak off like last time. '' ''So what? You're saying it is my fault? That all of it is my fault? That I got myself somehow in danger and god knows what that danger is?'' I started to get mad again. I had never ever wanted to bring myself in danger nor my siblings, I didn't want them to look out for me their whole life. They gave up so much.  
''No, I'm not. No one is.'' She said reading my thoughts. I looked down at my blanket, I had spilled some sauce on the corner.  
''But how do I get to school? I can't get through.'' I asked. My brain started working again , in a logical instead of emotional way.  
''You need to touch one of us. Hold our hand, shoulder against shoulder and that kind of stuff. It doesn't matter how you do it, you just need to touch us. That way, we'll be able to decide when you go outside.''  
''Which witch did this ?''  
''Does it matter?'' Rebekah raised an eyebrow looked suspiciously at me.  
''I don't know, I was just curious.'' I replied, finding it weird the way she had reacted.  
''So,'' she said and started curling her hair around her finger.  
''So,'' I pushed her to go further. She went to my bureau , took a piece of paper and pen and wrote something on it. I frowned, what was she doing? After a tenth of a second she was done and handed it over.

It said: _When I came home one of the previous days, you smelled like wolf. What happened? _

Confused, I took the pen out of her hands and wrote an answer. She read it and rolled her eyes.

_I know you didn't get murdered. Please tell me, Elena. It is important._

I answered: _It is none of your business.  
_  
She answered: I_t is now. You may not understand this but it is important that you tell me. Or else_

She paused a second before she started writing again.

_I'll go to Elijah._

I looked up and felt betrayed.

_So what? Go tell him I smelled like wolf, go ahead, you were the one who kept it from him even though you knew.  
_  
I almost threw the pen away but kept myself under control. This was stupid. Rebekah looked at me with empathy. Great. No I was the one they felt sorry for.  
_  
__You know that If I'd go to Elijah with this, he'll be furious. Do you want that? After what you've already done?  
_  
She was playing dirty, it wasn't fair. Everyone knew I hated to make Elijah mad. Also, it wouldn't help me if Elijah knew about Jake. I sighed. What could I tell that wasn't a lie but wasn't the truth either ? Suddenly, a term we had once learned came up in my mind. I'd tell her a white lie, which is telling the truth but saying not all of it.  
_  
__I saw someone in our garden and asked him what he was doing there. Apparently, he was a wolf, you told me yourself. That's it. _

I reread it a second time before handing it to Rebekah. Nothing was lied, I had seen him in our garden and I had asked him why he had been there. I didn't say I already knew he was a wolf but I didn't deny it either. I hoped this satisfied her and I also hoped my heartbeat didn't go faster because when I thought of him, I thought about how nice it had been talking to him behind the Mystic grill and how badly I wanted to see him again. She nodded and stood back up, taking the plate with her and apparently, believed me.

I ripped the paper to pieces, not wanting anyone to read it. I threw it away when Michael knocked on the door that Rebekah had left open.  
I smiled.  
''Come in. '' I sat down on my chair and started turning in little circles until I felt dizzy.  
''I'm sorry for earlier. I didn't intend to hurt you. ''  
He laughed.  
''Yeah , I know, I'd never be able to hurt you but you know what I mean.'' I felt ashamed of how weak I was compared to him. It made me feel like a little kid that wasn't allowed to sit at the grown-ups table on a party.  
''I bought new books from the university, care to read some?'' He suggested.  
I smiled, felt relieved to do something familiar again. It had been a long time since Mikael had been here and honestly, I had missed him.  
Mikael wasn't very old, he was only a vampire for five years. He had met Rebekah when he was only transformed for a year, he hadn't known yet what was related to being a vampire. Rebekah had helped him and that's how they had fallen in love, quite a romantic story. He was two years older than Rebekah was when she was transformed and had graduated as a doctor. He wanted to graduate for as much as possible. He was doing architecture at the moment. But whenever he had some time, we exchanged information. I had twice started at college in a town but I looked too young. Too bad though. It was the only place where I could learn something new.

The next morning, I woke up but it was still early. I looked outside and decided to go running for a while so I put my gym clothes on and went downstairs, quietly. I didn't saw anyone, so they must be out somewhere. I opened the door and started to sprint outside but instead of going forward, I wen backwards on my butt. My hand hurt and when I looked at it, I thought it was sprained. Right. The curtain. My nose was bleeding but I didn't have any other wounds. I cursed the witches in my head. Couldn't they at least make a soft 'curtain'? I got back on my feet and heard laughter upstairs. Without looking, I knew who it came from.  
''Thought you'd forget. Didn't know you could hit it that hard though.'' Klaus said, coming down.  
He poured himself a drink but he couldn't stop laughing with my stupidity. I was on my way to find a tissue when Damon and Elijah came running to me.  
''Are you alright? What happened? We smelled blood. What did you do?'' Klaus burst out into laughter, again, while Damon and Elijah were looking at me the way like worried parents looked at their three-year old who had lost a tooth.  
''I'm fine, I fell. My nose is bleeding and my wrist is sprained, I guess.'' I told them, stepping back but they took a step forward. I sighed. I didn't like to be pampered.  
''Can you get me a tissue or something?'' A tenth of a second later, Damon was back with a first aid kit and took care of it all. The whole family had a medical knowledge, Elijah had once obligated my siblings to take a class. It was only for me though because they healed quickly and didn't need to be taken care of. I didn't go running afterwards and left to school with an ugly yellow bandage around my wrist.

''What's up with the yellow monster?'' Caroline asked. I waved her off , said it was nothing. Bonnie and Jenna joined us and we started talking about the big assignment we had gotten for science.  
''Isn't that one of your brothers?'' Caroline suddenly interrupted Bonnie.  
''What?'' I said, thinking I must've heard wrong.  
''There. At the principal's office.'' I narrowed my eyes and saw Damon talking to our PE teacher.  
''It's Damon.'' Caroline said. ''Why is he here?''  
''I don't know but I don't like it.'' I decided to ask about it later, at home. I counted every single minute until the fiftieth and finally the bell rang. Our next class was history, which Ms. Appelo normally gave us but one of our classmates had told us she had had an accident , she was in a coma in the hospital and because they didn't know whether she'd wake up or not, they had hired someone else. We went in the class and sat down at our usual spot. I turned around on my chair and talked with Caroline for a while until her eyes went wide and her mouth nearly dropped. I frowned.  
''You okay?'' I said, half laughing, half seriously.  
''You are not going to like this but I sure like the view.'' I turned around and saw the back of my brother, writing his name on the blackboard.  
''Oh shit, he can hear me, can't he?'' Caroline whispered behind me. I sighed and felt like throwing something or anything but just watching it happen. Damon introduced himself as Mr. Salvatore and immediately started teaching.  
''You.'' I didn't dare look up to see if he was pointing at me but I had a feeling.  
''Hey, you there.'' He said again. I sighed but not too loudly and looked up.  
''So you're awake. Tell me, when did America help other countries with the Truman doctrine? '' He asked. That was an easy one.  
'' It was in 1946.''  
''Wrong!'' Damon said. ''It was 1947.''  
I was frustrated.  
''No it wasn't, I'm sure it was 1946 because we-'' a kick from behind , probably from Caroline and the look on Damon's face made me shut up.  
''we went to the history museum a while ago and it said 1946.'' Caroline rescued me.  
I looked over my shoulder and gave her a small smile.  
''The museum was right but, what I'm about to tell you now, is not in the history books. In 1946, America was already giving help to one of the countries of Russia through this doctrine but they didn't want to give it to other countries as well. It was a lot of money and supplies and America ought it impossible to do for all the other countries. It wasn't until 1947 someone threatened to clear the air and tell everyone else which made them obligated to make it look like they wanted it themselves and that's how they helped a lot of Russian countries. Are we clear?''  
The bell rang and class was over. I was the first one out. In my hurry to get away, I bumped into a cheerleader and stepped on her foot.  
''I'm sorry.'' I immediately apologized and recognized her.  
''Willow, wasn't it?'' I said, proud of myself that I had remembered her name.  
''Yeah, indeed. Look, I didn't thank you for helping me with the guys.'' I smiled.  
''Well, it certainly did help that I was so strong and able to knock them out, I mean, see my muscles?'' I said while holding my arms up. She laughed.  
''Is it okay if I buy you something for lunch to say thank you? '' I felt bad, I'd love to go and eat outside of school with her but with two brothers watching my back, I wouldn't be able to get out. Even though I realized this, my answer was not what I expected.  
''Sure! Where do we meet?''

It was noon and I stood by the fountain, waiting for Willow to come. I was nervous, hoped that neither Stefan or Damon saw me going away. I hoped Stefan was too busy with himself, as usual, and Damon with introducing himself to other teachers to pay attention to my whereabouts. A voice behind me greeted me and I almost jumped against the fountain. Willow tried to hold her laughter but she failed. ''Are you always this jumpy?'' She joked. I smiled.  
''I'm not allowed to go outside. '' I told her.  
''Girl, no one is.'' She winked . I noticed how her hair moved with every movement, she had a very natural blond color, the kind of blond girl would die for to get.  
''Yeah, but do you have two guardians running around school?'' I shivered. I shouldn't go out alone, they'll tell Elijah, he'll get mad again and I probably wouldn't even be allowed to go to school anymore which happened to be the only freedom I had for the moment.  
She frowned but it quickly transformed to an understanding look.  
''The guy who rescued us, he's your brother, I assume?''  
''His name is Stefan and yes, he is. ''  
Willow shrugged and her straight hair went up with it.  
''Who cares if he sees you? It's not like he's your dad.''  
''No, but he'll tell, I'm sure. ''  
''Then we just have to be very careful that he doesn't see you. I know a way that's not so visible, if you know what I mean. ''

Ten minutes later, we sat down at a coffee shop nearby. I had never been there but it was cozy. Willow ordered something for the both of us and wanted to know more about where I lived since I knew where she lived. I told her everything I could tell her and tried not to lie too often. It was a story I had often told people, every time we moved, I needed to tell it. I said it without thinking.  
Willow also told a little bit about herself but not much. She didn't have any siblings and lived with her mother. She didn't know where her dad was or even who he was. He had left at the age of five. I felt sorry for her, everyone needed to have a father figure in their live. The waitress brought the coffee but spilled on the white dress Willow wore.  
''I am so sorry!'' The waitress started to panic and quickly ran off to get towels. I bit my lip, prevented myself from commenting because I didn't know Willow yet, I didn't know what her reaction would be to this, whether she was someone who stayed calm or got really angry. Turned out, she was one of the friendly girls that didn't get mad because of something so stupid. The stain was very visible though and we still needed to go back to school halve a day.  
After forty minutes, we left back to school and waved goodbye. I liked her and I guess we were friends now. I had never made so many friends in any town as this one, maybe it was a sign. A sign that things could get better.

My second afternoon class was biology. Our teacher was talking about a flower, the Fritillaria cf. ojaiensis. Basically, it was just a green flower that looked like a lily but with purple in the middle. The teacher found it fascinating and talked about this specific flower for a whole hour. I was truly astonished how someone was able to do it. Mr. Roso was gay, he was the only gay teacher I knew. He wasn't openly gay, you didn't even notice it, accept the subjects he liked to talk about. He was very into Buddhism and philosophy and all that, he also wore a suit every day. The last ten minutes of class, Mr Roso's lecture about the flower took another turn. ''It is also said that when someone is in trouble and holds this flower, they are released from whatever trouble they were in. '' He looked at everyone in our class, catching their gazes for a brief moment and lingered a little longer on Willows.  
Must've been coincidence, I thought.  
Willow seemed to not notice it though, she was doodling on her papers.  
Class was over and I headed towards Willow to ask her if she was going to go to Tyler's party. But when I reached her, I saw that there wasn't a spot anymore on her dress. It was gone. I frowned.  
''Where's your coffee stain?'' It was stupid to ask, but I couldn't help it, it somehow felt important. She looked confused.  
''What stain?'' She started to straighten her dress and then , confusion switched for comprehension.  
''Oh, that stain.'' She bit her lip and looked away from me.  
''I got it out. After we split up, I went to the girls bathroom and got it off.'' She looked at me to see if I believed her. I didn't have a reason not to believe her but it still felt weird. I let it go and asked what I intended to ask her. Willow answered she didn't know yet, she had no one to go with. I told her that if I went, she could come with me. She smiled, glad for the invitation.

After that, we separated and I saw Caroline standing alone by her locker. I went over there and hung against the locker next to hers. I sighed and looked at her. She rolled her eyes.  
''Melodramatic.'' She said.  
''How hard is it to get a coffee stain out of a white dress in one hour? '' I asked her. Caroline frowned but still answered.  
''Hard if you don't have the right stuff to do it. Why do you ask? You don't drink coffee, do you?''  
I shook my head and looked at a couple of cheerleaders practicing across the field. I wished I was a cheerleader too, the outfits were a little naked but it looked fun. Caroline followed my gaze. ''wishing you were a cheerleader?'' she asked. I didn't answer her, she already knew the answer. ''Try outs are next week, we could-'' she said. I looked at her sarcastically. ''Yeah right, since when do you want to be one?'' ''I want to try new things, that's all. '' The way she told me made me think there was more to it but I let it go.


	8. Chapter 8

Author's note: I wanted to ask you guys a question, do you think I need to add more exciting or thrilling parts that give you shivers or more romantic parts or whatever you can make up? Let me know!  
(ideas are always welcome!J)

Elijah didn't come home on Tuesday and neither did the rest of my siblings except Rebekah. Michael had stayed with us since Saturday and they acted like they were my parents. It was annoying. When I asked them about Damon being a teacher, they laughed and started making jokes about him teaching a class. Apparently, Elijah hadn't told Rebekah. I didn't want to ask him on the phone because he could just hang up on me and I didn't want to take that risk. So I waited until he was back, which was the following day.  
''Two of my vampire brothers are in the same school as me, two! '' I shouted.  
''Why on earth would you even take that risk? Why is Damon a teacher at my school? Because I can't think of a single reason, Elijah.''  
''Since Stefan isn't capable of looking after you on his own, I thought it would be wise to have an extra pair of eyes. '' I shook my head. I couldn't bring anything against that except that they both weren't capable of looking after either me since they hadn't noticed me going away for an hour. I wasn't going to bring it up though.  
''You drive me crazy, you know that?''  
''I can say the same about you.''  
With that, he left , gone to do whatever I wasn't supposed to know.  
Awesome.  
I laid down on the couch, catching some sleep until the vibration of my phone made me awake. It was Jenna. Rubbing the sleep out of my eyes, I answered but couldn't help to yawn first.  
''Hi, what's up?'' I asked.  
''Have you been sleeping? In the middle of the day? While we have a huge test for science tomorrow? ''  
''Well, I've already studied it and I was tired. '' I explained, making circles with my finger on the couch.  
''Why do you call?'' I asked.  
''Matt asked me out again and I wondered , maybe, you wanted to join us, do a double date? I mean, It looked like you got along well with Jake so I figured…are you in?'' she asked.  
''I 'd love to but I don't know if I'm allowed. I'll let you know.'' I told her, but I wanted to just say yes, to tell her to pick me up at seven but I already knew I wasn't allowed to go anywhere.  
It wasn't until I lay down again that I realized something. Elijah had said Damon was at my school because Stefan wasn't capable of looking out for me on his own, but why would he say that? Nothing he knew off had gone wrong, unless he knew. But if he knew about me and Willow being harassed by those guys, why didn't he tell me? It made my head hurt so I let it go, I could ask about it another time. I took a blanket and fell back asleep, thinking about Jake.

Jake was standing next to me, we held hands.  
It felt nice, they were warm and gave me a safe feeling. Why did I have the need to feel safe?  
A sudden wave of fear went through me and I held onto his hand more tightly. I looked behind me.  
We were in the woods but they went from sunny to dark in an instant.  
Jake started to shake my hand off, he didn't want to hold it. I looked at him, confused and hurt. I let go, not wanting to push him. He stepped away, backed up slowly until he was a few feet away.  
In the corner of my eye, I could see red eyes staring at him, then switching its gaze to me.  
I warned Jake, yelled at him but he didn't seem to care.  
I wanted to run over to him but something told I shouldn't. Another pair of eyes on the other side and they seemed to multiply by the second. Soon, one of the wolves came out, showing his teeth but not making any sound. They gathered around Jake whose eyes turned evil red.  
I started to take little steps back, not sure what was going on. One thing was for sure, it wasn't good.  
As Jake turned into a wolf, I listened to my instinct and ran. I ran as quickly as I could but constantly tripped over the roots.  
I looked over my shoulder and saw him an inch behind me.  
He ran faster than me.  
I wanted to start running harder but a sudden push against my shoulder blades made me fall down on the ground. Sand came in my mouth mixed with blood. My lip was open but it wasn't bad. I turned around to see who my attacker was and even though I could've expected it, I was hurt and disappointed. Jake's sharp teeth came closer to my face and I tried to hold him back but he was stronger.  
And that's when I woke up. I gasped from the shock and sat up. The blanket had fallen of the couch and a few cushions were spread over the floor. A sudden noise behind me made me scream and I turned around to see what it was.  
''Wow, what are you so afraid of? Your heart is racing like a maniac.'' Damon said. I waved him off, headed upstairs and sat down on the window sill. I looked out the window, my eyes searching for the tree. I smiled. He had been right, it was the fourth tree on the right if you counted from the fence to the house. The weather was beautiful, the sun was shining and I could hear all the noises of the nature. It calmed me down but not enough.

The test for science, that had been stressing everyone out besides me apparently, was easy. I thought I 'd done it well but when I looked at Caroline and Jenna, they thought different.  
''I've been studying for that stupid test for over a week, a whole week! And you know what my grade will be? An F. A big loser F. ''  
Caroline immediately agreed and promised to never learn again because it hadn't changed a thing.  
I tried to look as sad as I could too, hoping they wouldn't notice I felt pretty confident about an A. They didn't buy it though.  
''Don't even think of pretending, we all know you will have an A as usually. I really don't get how a person can be that smart. It even seems like you don't even study. '' I raised an eyebrow at Caroline. I hated the whole jealousy thing. Besides, she knew my story, she knew I was hundreds of years old and had had plenty time to study. After a few seconds, her face changed and she seemed to get what she hadn't realized before. Jenna though, sighed and complained some more.

After lunch break, I told them about the nightmare but I left a couple of things out like the werewolf part. Jenna needn't to know.  
''Dreams are usually your unconscious, talking to you. Maybe you were afraid once, when he was around and now you just relate Jake to fear. '' Caroline suggested.  
I tried to think back, perfectly able to picture every single moment we had spent together which were too few. But none of those pictures showed any sing of fear.  
''Where's Bonnie? Wasn't she supposed to meet us here? She's already ten minutes late. '' Jenna interrupted my thoughts, looking at her watch. I had totally forgotten our meeting about the party at Tyler's, it was this week, Friday the thirteenth. I wasn't superstitious but I didn't feel good about it either.

Stefan drove me home and while we were in the car, I turned the music down.  
''Did you tell Elijah about what happened with Willow and me? '' I asked him. It had been keeping me buzzy about how he'd known and the only thing I could think of was because of Stefan but I couldn't find a reason to tell Elijah so I figured I'd just ask.  
''Yeah, I did.'' He started to drive faster right before a sharp turn which made us almost slip where after he slowed down again. I had grabbed the handlebars on the ceiling, not letting them go anytime soon.  
''Why?'' I asked and hoped he would drive carefully.  
''I figured, if he thinks I'm not capable of looking out for you, he won't ever let me do it again. That way, I never need to babysit your little ass again. '' He smiled and drove the car to the front of our house where he stopped. ''Sometimes, I 'm even amazed by how smart I am. '' With that, he went inside and I sighed, unbuckling my belt. I didn't know what to feel, betrayed or glad that Stefan wasn't ever going to babysit again.  
Before I walked inside, I lingered in front of the door. I stuck my hand out, as to feel the shield but I grabbed air. I wanted to pull my head back outside, wanted to enjoy the nature a little bit longer but it wouldn't come outside. It was like it was stuck in cement. Rebekah placed her hand on mine and pushed it back outside. I smiled, thankful.  
''Want to walk around the house?'' She asked. I nodded and felt glad I wasn't the only one needing some fresh air. As soon as we were on the path that wasn't exactly a path anymore with all the weeds growing on it, Rebekah started talking.  
''I heard what Stefan told you in the car. '' I frowned. ''What about it?''  
''He was lying, you know.''  
''About what? He didn't tell Elijah? Then who did?'' She smiled and shook her head.  
''Easy, you,'' my sister plucked a leaf from one of my favorite trees, it was as old as I was and had survived all these years.  
''He didn't lie about what he did but about why he did it. ''  
''Why would he lie about that?'' Rebekah looked at me like I was a naïve child. I looked away and focused my attention on a little rock I was kicking forth.  
''Stefan and his pride, it will never change. After what happened to you and that girl-,''  
''Willow.'' I told her.  
''Willow, he felt bad. He felt like he'd failed. ''  
''Well, he actually did fail , I mean,'' I stopped after the mad look I got.  
''What I'm trying to say is, he doesn't trust himself anymore to look out for you, he's afraid something like this will happen again and he would never want you to get hurt. '' I snorted.  
''Yeah, right. And secretly, he's also not a vampire but a fairy.''  
''Baby.'' She said where after she rushed through my hear which left a lot of knots for me to untangle. Awesome. After lunch, I started my homework, the assignments we got didn't make themselves, too bad. I was so concentrated that when I felt my phone buzz, I didn't react until a minute later. I took it out and read the messenger. I got a weird feeling in my stomach. I didn't know whether it was from the dream or something else.

It said:

_Home? I'm outside ;)_

I walked to the window and pulled the curtains to the side. Looking from the left to the right, even in the trees, saw no one in our garden and no car or bike. I frowned and walked back to the table.  
''What's wrong?'' Klaus came down and sat down on the couch.  
''Nothing.'' I say, too quickly. He looked at me. As soon as I see him disappear I grab for my phone but I was too slow.  
''Give it back!'' I said, watching helplessly how Klaus broke into my privacy.  
''What? Something I'm not allowed to read?'' I got up and walked to where he was standing, reaching for my cell while he held it up high. Klaus placed his other hand in the middle of my face, covering my mouth which made me breath through my nose. ''cjmn'' came out of my mouth instead of 'c'mon' but his hand made it hard to talk.  
''Jake? Who is Jake? '' He took his hand away and when I blinked my eyes, he was standing at the balcony, scrolling through my messages.  
''Nothing much interesting any more but I can't promise I'll keep your little boy a secret, though.''  
He winked and threw my cell back, hard.  
''Why don't go to him? He's just standing outside, apparently. Oh wait, you can't.''  
I didn't know what to tell him, which excuse to make up so I stayed quiet, like I usually did. Until I knew what to say that would keep him shut.  
''If you tell Elijah or anyone about this, I'll tell Elijah you and Stefan left me alone when Caroline was here. '' After that being said, I immediately erased the message and send him back that I wasn't able to come out. Literally not able to leave the house because of the 'curtain'. I also mentioned Klaus being in the house.  
''You were wrong too, you can't use that against me. '' I looked annoyed back at him and sighed.  
''You naïve vampire. Who said you didn't threaten me to shut up and say nothing? Who said I wanted to be alone? Who said I didn't want to call Elijah but wasn't allowed? '' I shrugged, letting him figure it out on his own. Five minutes later, my phone buzzed again.

_I figured a way to see each other. You in?_

I smiled but it soon disappeared from my face. I looked at Klaus's door. He was the second person who knew of Jake at the moment , I needed to be careful.

_What's the plan?_

My palms were sweaty and I was nervous as hell. Not only was I breaking Elijah's rules, I was also meeting the guy I barely knew but felt so weird about.  
''You sure they won't see or miss me?'' I asked Willow, for the third time.  
''Yeah, yeah. I've got it all covered. '' She winked and her perfect straight her fell in front of her eyes. She easily stuck it behind her ear.  
''You sure you don't have history today and warned your friends? '' She raised an eyebrow and for a moment, I started panicking.  
''Why do I need to warn them?'' I asked, it was none of their business what I did, was it? But if they were doing something like this, I wished to know too.  
''Because; '' she said like it wasn't that hard to figure out ''they can mess it all up. What if they go ask your brother where you are?'' I hadn't thought about that.  
''Maybe, I should-,'' but I couldn't finish because I saw Jake and every doubt disappeared. I felt so glad to see him again , I couldn't think of anything else anymore.  
''He sure is damn cute. '' Willow asked, who had followed my gaze. I blushed and thanked her before I quickly ran to the secret way me and Willow had taken to leave school a couple of days ago.  
He didn't come by car, he was riding a motorcycle. I raised an eyebrow. ''Aren't you a little young to ride it?'' But as I said it, I realized I didn't know how old he exactly was. I had assumed he was around my age, seeing he was a friend of Matt. He smiled and gave me a helmet.  
''You expect me to climb on that monster with you?''  
''You afraid?'' Damn it. I didn't like to be seen as someone weak. I took the helmet and put it on, pushed myself behind him full of confidence, at least, I hoped It looked like that. I doubted for a second where to hold on to. I'd never been on a motor before, in movies, they also grabbed the one driving but it felt somehow to intimate and I didn't know whether he wanted me to hold him.  
I saw his shoulders move up and down and realized he was laughing at me.  
Great.  
I must look like a fool to him. Jake grabbed my arms and placed them around his waist. I couldn't keep from trembling, I had never been so close to a guy before who I actually liked. The helmet made it hard though to see anything. My view was smaller. He stuck his thumb up to ask if I was ready and I nodded weakly. I squeezed my eyes shut until I knew for certain we were driving. I felt the wind pulling my hair back , rushing through my clothes. I opened them a little but not much and immediately shut them again. We were actually riding between cars, who came so close that if I stretched my leg, they would hit it. I didn't dare to look again until the noise of the engine stopped and the wind was gone. I didn't want to let go of Jake yet but it would be weird to hold on so much to my dismay, I let go. He put his helmet away and offered me a hand to help me get off but I pretended I didn't see it and jumped off alone. I pulled at the heavy thing on my head but it wouldn't come off. Jake smiled and gestured to let him handle it. I crossed my arms at my chest.  
''You need to unlace it first. '' Stupid. I felt like an idiot. I hadn't paid any attention to my surroundings and wondered where we were. It looked like a forest, far away. I had never been to a lot of places in Mystic falls so I shouldn't be surprised I'd never seen this place before.


	9. Chapter 9

''This way.'' I turned and looked at the forest he was pointing to. The trees were close to each other, I looked left and right but it seemed to go on without an end.  
''Are you afraid?''  
''For what? Trees?'' I fixated my eyes on an oddly shaped tree so I wouldn't notice it when I entered and tried to avoid walking in a spider web. Some places had vines I needed to break in order to get through but sometime, they were already snapped. Somebody must've been here before, taken the same road. I tried a couple of times to let him go first but when I slowed down, he did too. It made me nervous, walking in front of him, not knowing the way. He sometimes gave me short instructions, to move more the left or right but we were silent most of the time. It didn't feel awkward, it felt good. We listened to the noises of nature, the birds spreading their wings, water rushing over the ground, leaves in the wind. But after half an hour, he broke the silence.  
''Now stop.'' Jake walked past me and pushed branches and green plants away. A gate appeared which went open with ease. He stepped over one of the roots in the middle of a pad behind the gate and gestured me to follow him. Out of curiosity, I did. The further we followed the path, the more civilized the environment became. We walked past the most beautiful garden I had ever seen, if it was a garden. It could be a park or something else, I wasn't sure. There was a small pond with fish and a tiny waterfall, bubbling and roaring, uninterrupted. It was a pattern of endless rhythm, the sound that makes you fall asleep when you're having trouble sleeping, a sound of nature that everybody likes. I felt a sudden jealousy rush through me, that he could come here whenever he wanted, away from everything. I was always being watched by someone, never alone and this place, it was mesmerizing. Sighing, I followed him further, into the woods. We let the small peaceful world behind and came to a beginning of another path, created partly by a human and partly by nature. The tree roots formed steps that led up the hill, the branches with their leaves formed a roof against the rain and the rocks on the sides gave you something to hold on. You could tell someone had cleared the path, took out all the weed and sharp pointed rocks that were too big to stand on. Another long walk until we were on top of it, looking over the city. Little lights were everywhere, like the city was one big living organism, which it actually was. Everything was connected to everything and everyone was connected to everyone. People might not realize it, nor had I. But I knew now. I looked at Jake, not seeing the wolf from my dream, but just Jake, human Jake.  
''Who owns this place?'' I asked, looking back to the path we'd followed. He shrugged and kicked a little stone of the hill.  
''I don't know.'' He looked at the city and sat down. ''I found it when I was running around, when the gate opened, I got curious and went further. That's how I came here for the first time. I've been visiting it ever since.''  
''It's beautiful.'' I sat down next to him.  
''It certainly is.'' Jake looked in my eyes but I turned my head.  
''Have you ever asked why he was fighting my brother?'' I wanted to know what was happening, Elijah wouldn't fight without a reason.  
''Yeah, I asked about it but he didn't give me a clear answer. All he said was that the vampire had accused him of something he didn't do. He also said it was none of my business and to not get involved with vampires.'' His face grew serious.  
''Which made me wonder something else. How can you be human while your brother is a vampire? ''  
I sighed. I had expected this to come but I didn't want to bore him with our past nor make me vulnerable by telling him things. I didn't know a thing about him and he didn't about me, until I trusted him enough, I'd tell him nothing.  
''How do you know I'm human?''  
He laughed.  
''Then what are you? A troll?''  
''Well thanks, I appreciate that.'' I couldn't feel insulted, even though I would've been if it hadn't been for him.  
''I'm just a miracle, that's all. '' We both started laughing and forgot about the earlier subject. Half an hour later, my phone buzzed which interrupted our talk about our dreams. It was Willow.  
''Hello?''  
''Elena! Get your damn ass over here! What are you thinking, that Damon nor Stefan will notice it if they don't see you longer than an hour? They're already looking for you, I can make up an excuse for a quarter, but that's it. Another thing, have you guys already kissed?'' I rolled my eyes and Jake started laughing. Damn his werewolf hearing.  
''I'll be back soon. I promise. Thank you for everything. '' I hung up and laid back down. Jake frowned.  
''No offence, but I don't want to be attacked by your brothers because they think I kidnapped you.'' I smiled. ''You're right. They'd do that.'' I let out a long breath and stood up. We walked past the little pond and it made me wonder again who it belonged to. How can one let this place be, if it were mine, I'd be in it every day. Seeing the motor, my stomach started to feel odd. It wasn't out of nausea, I didn't feel sick on the previous ride. It was probably nothing. He handed me a helmet and we left to school again, the feeling in my stomach became even more present when we were riding and I was pressed against him, eyes closed. When we got off, I felt sadness but also normal again. I ran back to Willow and gave her a hug. She didn't hug me back but pushed me away.  
''I'm not the sentimental type, I don't do hugs.''  
''I don't care. It has been so long since I've been alone, doing what I want to do. It was amazing and without you, it wouldn't have been possible.''  
''Yeah, yeah, now tell me about it.''

''So, are you ready?'' Caroline asked, practicing her routine again. I nodded and started biting my nails but Bonnie slammed my hand away.  
''I still don't get what got into you, why the sudden interest in cheerleading?'' I shrugged and Caroline didn't even answer. The uniform didn't cover much of our bodies, our stomach was shown and the skirts were mini. I didn't mind it though, I'd never gotten this much attention from boys which made me realize, this might 've been Caroline's reasoning.  
''Caroline Forbes?'' Caroline turned and shrieked. Me and Bonnie laughed, Caroline wasn't good at handling stress.  
''You'll do great.'' I said, trying to encourage her. After inhaling deeply, she walked to the cheerleaders and auditioned. After she returned, it was my turn. I wasn't very nervous for the routine, I've always liked dancing and ballet so I got lots of lessons, but I was afraid they wouldn't think I'm beautiful or skinny enough. I mentally slapped myself, it didn't matter what they thought of me, or whether I made it. I was good. And that was all that mattered. I was thankful though, that no one else could see my audition. I never told Bonnie nor Caroline I was agile. Didn't have a reason to. But they'd soon find out anyway. After my audition, Stefan found us. Great. ''Going for the cheerleader lookalike?'' he asked. His gaze drifted to Caroline and he looked at her from hair to toes. Caroline looked back, in the same way. Apparently, someone got over her anxiety of vampires.  
''Get lost.'' I told him, and wanted to walk past him but he grabbed my arm.  
''Ladies, if you'll excuse us.'' Bonnie and Caroline waved goodbye and left. I crossed my arms and sighed. ''What?''  
''No need to be a bitch, little sis. You're really going to try out for the team?'' He asked, eyebrows raised.  
''Yes, I am.''  
''You know Elijah won't let you, don't you?'' This confused me. What was wrong with doing sports?  
Stefan smiled and softly shook his head.  
''There can happen lots of things at cheerleading that could hurt you. Sometimes, I wonder if you even know your brother. '' With that, he walked away and greeted some other guys who had been waiting for him. I gritted my teeth. Stefan was right, a lot of accidents happened at cheerleading. Maybe I shouldn't tell Elijah but Stefan would be needed to kept quiet and I had no idea how. Seeing Damon walk on the other side of school, was a reminder that also he was a problem. Damn it. As if he could read my thoughts, Damon spotted me and stood in less than a second behind me. I turned around, startled.  
''Why are you wearing-'' He interrupted himself.  
''No, the question is, why are you wearing nothing?'' I looked down at my skirt.  
''This is not nothing.''  
''It is also not something. Everybody can see everything, where is your dignity?'' I got a headache and wanted to change, and clean myself up from the hard try out but no rest for me. My brothers definitely knew when to bother me.  
''Where were you at lunch break? I've been looking for you to tell you to go home with Stefan.''  
I nodded and hoped he wouldn't go further on the previous question. I'd forgotten to ask Willow what she made up as excuse. Damon crossed his arms, apparently, not buying it. I tried to look for Willow as subtle as I could but Damon made me look in his eyes.  
''Well?'' Keep looking in his eyes, keep looking in his eyes. If I turned my gaze, he'd know I was lying.  
I opened my mouth to answer but Willow cut me off.  
''I already told you, we had lunch together and she was ten minutes away , looking for her science book, which she found. I still can't believe you left it in the hallway, even though I would try to get rid of it too, but-''  
''Yeah, yeah. I know. You told me. Well, see you at home. '' He rushed through my hair like I was a little child. I slammed it away. Willow wanted to start talking but Damon wasn't far enough. I put my finger against my lips and waved my hand. She frowned but let it go.

It was Friday evening and I didn't have a plan yet to get to Tyler's party. I was texting Caroline but her suggestions were always doomed to fail. I sighed and hung back on the couch. There was one thing I hadn't thought about, until Stefan brought it up. I almost screamed Stefan was an angel but I kept quiet and distant until I ought it time to mingle.  
''So, if Stefan goes, I can go too, can't I? I mean, he'll be there so-'' I stretched the 'o' until it silently disappeared in air.  
''I didn't know you wanted to go.'' Elijah said matter of factly. Did he really not see this coming?  
''You know, some girls invited me, a couple of students.'' Damon smiled. ''I almost said yes. '' He winked and I grimaced. Those were things I needn't to know and it was also a huge ego boost for his already too big of an ego.  
''They did? How can they be so-'' I tried to look for the right word for girls who asked their teachers out, ''-presumptuous.'' Stefan gave me a weird look and Mikael explained the word.  
''Why don't you just say without shame or something like that? You don't need to act like you're smart.''  
''I am smart.''  
''That's what dumb people say.''  
I rolled my eyes and turned to Elijah.  
''Can I?'' I could only hope he said yes.  
''Can you what?'' He asked.  
''You know what. Go to the party.'' Elijah sighed and paced around, looking for something.  
''Have you seen a triangular shaped stone with an eye on it? '' It ringed a bell somewhere in my head but I was too focused on the party, which was in two hours. I needed to know now.  
''Don't change the subject. Let me go with Stefan, please!'' I almost sat down on my knees with my hands folded but kept myself standing.  
''You're definitely not going with me, that's for sure.'' Stefan intervened.  
''Shut up.'' I looked back at Elijah, which was handy for Stefan because I hadn't seen him coming but in a second I was lying on the floor with my arm pulled behind my back. I screamed from pain, he loosened his grip a little bit but it still hurt a lot.  
''What did you say?'' I couldn't see his face but I bet a thousand euros he was smiling like hell. The pain kept on coming and I couldn't speak, until he let my arm fall on the ground. I tried to stand up but he kept his foot on my back.  
''Well?'' I looked at Elijah, hoped he would say something before I needed to apologize for nothing. Unfortunately, Elijah was still looking for that thing he had asked about earlier and didn't feel like intervening. Great.  
''I'm sorry.'' I said. If I had any chance of going to that party, Stefan needed to be in a good mood and if saying sorry was all it took, it was fine by me.  
''There you go. Why do you always need to choose the hard way?'' Stefan said, as if learning me a lesson.  
Since asking Elijah hadn't helped, I tried a different way of getting what I wanted. I said it a little louder than necessary.  
''I'm going to get ready for the party. Can I stay at Caroline's afterwards?'' I hoped he would focus on the second part which needed to let him forget he hadn't said yes to the first.  
''No, you'll sleep here. I'm off, I'll see you when you get home. '' He left where after all my siblings, including me and Mikael, fell silent.  
''That was weird. '' A couple of ''tell me about it's'' confirmed Rebekahs statement.  
''I'm not complaining though.'' I shrugged and got ready.

I was ready to go, when Damon knocked on my door.  
''Come on in.''  
''About the cheerleading-''he paused and I looked expectantly at him, wondering what he was about to say, ''-I know if Elijah knew, he wouldn't let you but I think it's good if you do some sports. Just let me know when practice is and I'll take care of Elijah. ''  
''I need to make the team first.'' I said, not knowing what else to say. Sneaking around behind Elijah's back was not something I liked doing, I'd hoped I'd be able to pursue him but even Damon thought it wouldn't happen. Why was he helping me? I was sure it wasn't because he thought I should do sports, I ran occasionally.  
''You'll make it, you know it too. Caroline was pretty good herself at the auditioning. '' I looked up, surprised.  
''You saw the auditions? '' I asked a little insecure. If I had known back then, I would've been nervous as hell.  
Damon laughed.  
''That's why I didn't tell you. Calm down, your heart is speeding like a racing car. ''  
Stefan sneaked in the room and started looking around with a disapproving look.  
''If you don't like my room, get the hell out. If you do, also get out.''  
Stefan raised an eyebrow.  
''If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't be able to go this evening. '' He laid down on my bed.  
''I'm leaving in an hour but I'm going to run. I don't want some drunk kids to damage my car. So ask someone to pick you up. ''  
''I'll bring you. '' Damon suggested. I smiled thankful at him where after I gave Stefan a surprise attack and kicked him off the bed.  
''That's my bed, vamp.'' I said, feeling though for surprising a vampire.  
Stefan got out with only a sigh and went to irritate Klaus who had just gotten home.


	10. Chapter 10

_Author's note: I'm so sorry for taking so long to update but I'll make it up :) I've already kind of written the eleventh chapter :D I'm also sorry this chapter's a little shorter but this needed to be a chapter on its own :D Hope you enjoy!_

_PS: if you feel like it, you may always leave a revies, pm me with notes or suggestions or criticism, everything helps :) _

The party had started an hour ago but I didn't feel like partying all of the sudden. Something was missing, I didn't know what but it felt like something wasn't right. I sighed and stopped dancing. I sat down at a spot on the grass next to the pool where no drinks were spilled or nobody had thrown up. Leaning back, I had a great view over everyone outside and I started to guess the names with the faces. I recognized maybe ten of all the people who were here, which were at least sixty. A group of guys was watching me but I ignored them, I sat here alone for a reason. But apparently, one of them didn't get it and walked over with two drinks. I smiled. It was actually flattering if a guy came talking to you. I felt better, while just a second ago, I didn't wanted to be bothered at all.  
''Hi, can I sit next to you? There are drinks spilled everywhere except here.''  
''Sure. Is that the only reason you wanted to sit here? '' I looked at the two drinks he was still holding.  
The guy got a shy look and offered me one. I thanked him but before I was able to drink, Stefan showed up and took it out of my hand.  
''What are you doing?'' Me and the boy both asked.  
Stefan shrugged, and drunk it up. He raised an eyebrow and looked from me to the guy where after he left without saying a word.  
I sighed.  
''That was weird.'' He made little circles around his temple with his finger.  
''That was my brother.'' I looked down, a little ashamed.  
''That makes it even more weird. '' He smiled. ''I'm Josh. ''  
''I'm Elena. Sorry about your drink.''  
''It was beer but it wasn't cold anymore so no hard feelings.'' Josh winked.  
I laughed, it felt nice to feel like a normal teenager, to go out and talk to different boys. Josh was cute, he had the looks of a surfer. His dark blond hair was styled with gel and he had amazing cheekbones, I had never seen a guy with those cheekbones that had a head which didn't look like a square box. The trunks he wore with no shirt, made the image complete. I couldn't help but glance every once in a while at his muscular chest. He was sitting practically naked next to me.  
''Too bad I didn't get to taste it, even though Stefan probably enjoyed it.''  
''Stefan? The brother?'' He asked. I confirmed with a nod.  
''You came with him?''  
I shook my head.  
''I'm old enough to have my own friends. '' I smiled. A cold breeze made my hair fly in front of my face and I put it back in its place.  
''So, you know Tyler?''  
Josh nodded and had nothing but good things to say about the football player. I was glad because there were people who talked about Tyler as if he was a not very monogamous guy. And I wished Caroline all the best.  
In the middle of his explanation about why boys hated reading, Josh looked up and greeted someone.  
''Hi Jake!'' I looked up and couldn't believe my eyes. My heart started pounding and a rush of guilt ran over me. Guilt? What had I done to feel guilty about? I immediately jumped up but didn't know why. God, I hated all this confusion. There was definitely something wrong with me.  
''Hi, Josh. Bothering girls, like usual?'' Jake looked at me.  
''He isn't giving you trouble, is he?''  
I shook my head.  
Josh looked from Jake to me and back. And then sighed.  
''Of course you know her. Can't you leave one girl on this planet for me? '' He kicked a can and walked back to his friends. I frowned.  
''What was that about?'' I asked.  
''I don't know. Josh is a good friend but ninety percent of the time, I don't understand what he means. ''  
I laughed.  
''Josh is a nice guy.'' I told him and looked around to see Caroline, so I could introduce the two of them. She was nowhere to be seen, nor were Willow and Jenna. When I spotted Stefan, lying on the ground, probably high even though I thought it was impossible as a vampire to get high, I was glad I needn't to worry about any vampires.  
''Are you alone?'' Jake asked, looking at me.  
''No, I'm here with Willow, the girl who helped me escape school, Jenna, Caroline and Bonnie.''  
''Where are they?''  
I almost hadn't heard him because the music was turned louder and it was impossible to talk without screaming. Jake said something else but I couldn't hear him and when I gave up trying to understand him, he took out his phone, typed something and pointed at my phone in my pocket. I took it out and read I had a new message. It was Jake. I looked up at him and frowned. He gestured to read it , so I did.

_Want 2 go 2 somewhere else? Couple of friends of mine are having a bon fire, it's nearby. _

Right after I'd read it, another message came in.

_\+ it's much more quiet so we can talk instead of texting __J_

I smiled, deleted the messages in case Klaus would take my phone again and send ''k'' back. I doubted whether to tell one of the girls because if Stefan suddenly decided to look for me, he could compel them. On the other hand, I couldn't leave without telling them something, they might get worried. I decided to send a message that said I was tired and had left the party. Stefan would believe it, in his state of mind.

It wasn't until we had walked almost a mile until we didn't hear the noise of the party at Tyler's. He was lucky to not have neighbors. The Lockwood's house was surrounded by a forest, owned by them of course.  
''How do you know Josh?'' Jake asked me while holding a branch out of the way so I could go through.  
I thanked him and answered.  
''I don't. He came talking to me.'' Jake laughed and shook his head.  
''Typical Josh. He's a good guy though, he is just very social sometimes.''  
''How do you know him? Is he at my school like Matt?''  
''Yeah, he goes to the same school as you two do. I think he's a year older. Or the same age as you, I don't know. ''  
''How old are you?'' I asked, it didn't matter but I was curious.  
''I'm eighteen.'' He looked at me. ''Why were you alone at the party?''  
''I wasn't, I had-''  
''No, '' he interrupted me, ''I mean, why were you sitting alone? Josh only talks to girls without other people around. He is too shy. ''  
I looked up at the sky. There were several stars but one was bigger than the others.  
''I-'' I couldn't explain why. I didn't even know why I had felt like that. There were plenty of excuses I could make up, tell him I had sore feet, that I had been waiting for someone who hadn't come but I wanted to tell the truth.  
''I didn't feel like partying anymore.''  
''And now?''  
''I feel better. '' I admitted. I hadn't noticed it but I felt much better than a couple of minutes ago, before Jake and Josh talked to me.  
''Good.'' Was Jake's answer. We walked about half a mile when I saw a little light coming through the woods and smoke going up.  
''Who are your friends?'' I asked, realizing I probably didn't know any of them because Jake didn't go to my school. I suddenly felt scared and nervous. What if they didn't like me or Jake felt tired of being with me because I only knew him?  
''Don't worry, you'll like them.''  
I didn't worry about me, I worried about them, whether they'd like me. How did he even know I was worried? It was crazy that he always seemed to know what I was thinking.  
''How do you do that?'' I asked.  
''Do what?'' He genuinely seemed confused. I shook my head and didn't answer. We arrived and there were about twelve people sitting around a huge fire which made it difficult to see the people behind it.  
''Jake! '' A girl, about twelve years old, ran to him. Jake picked her up and swung her around where after he put her down. She looked at me.  
''Who's this?'' The girl crossed her arms and I was almost sure she looked jealous. I wanted to introduce myself but didn't think the girl would like that. If she wanted me to speak, she would've asked me my name.  
Jake grinned.  
''Charlotte, be nice. This is a friend of mine, her name is Elena.''  
''Hi.'' I waved but she turned around and walked back to the fire where she sat down next to a tall guy who almost was as muscled as the hulk. I was not exaggerating.  
''Don't mind her, she'll come around. ''  
I nodded but I knew how children could be with a crush. They didn't come around easily.  
Almost everybody greeted Jake and me with a smile, the atmosphere was very happy and friendly. After we sat down, on the opposite side of Charlotte, I asked him about the guy sitting a couple of people away from us.  
''Why did he ignore you?'' I asked, even though he also hadn't said a thing to me.  
''We don't get along very well. '' Was all he said before someone asked him to come and get more wood for the fire. I was left alone with eleven strangers and felt a little out of place. The woman next to me must have noticed because she started talking.  
''Hi, I'm Nancy.''  
''Elena. '' I told her and shook her hand. She had a very pretty tattoo on it, it wasn't big. It was a line that went straight up and bowed a little later with a little curl on the end with two dots on the outer side.  
''What does it mean?'' I asked her and pointed at her ring finger, it was tattooed on the side.  
''This?'' she held her finger up, ''This is the sign we get when we marry.''  
''So no rings?'' I asked and wondered what the tattoo meant. She smiled at my statement.  
''No, no rings. '' She thought for a moment, asked something to the guy on her right and took his hand.  
She put their fingers against each other, he had the same tattoo as her. When the two fingers touched, the tattoo's formed a heart with four dots on the outer side, it was very pretty.  
''That's way better than rings.'' I said, and meant it.  
''I'm sorry if I offend you, but aren't you a little young to be already married? '' Nancy didn't look older than 22 on the outside, even though she sounded much older. She smiled and looked at her husband.  
''Me and Mason have been together since we were five. We were inseparable. The moment we turned 21, we got married because we had been together for already sixteen years, even though it was only very serious from my sixteenth birthday. I knew it was him, I've always known. ''  
''And I've also always known it was her,'' Mason interfered where after they gave each other a kiss so full of love I needed to turn my head away. I felt like an intruder.  
''So you and Jake, how do you know each other?'' Nancy asked. Her eyes looked intensely at me.  
I didn't know what to say for a second because I couldn't tell him we met in the tree outside my house. But I also didn't want to lie to a woman I'd just met. Thank god Jake had just come back and answered for me.  
''We have a mutual friend, you remember Matt? From my karate classes.''  
''Yeah, you've mentioned that boy a couple of times. ''  
I smiled thankfully and impressed at Jake. He hadn't lied and hadn't told the truth either. I needed to practice it so I could tell something like that too. An older man, I guessed he was around forty years old and the oldest here, wore a necklace I recognized. It was the same triangle with an eye in the middle as I had found in Klaus's room but it had another color. Klaus's was red, this one was brown. I would ask Jake later, I was curious what it meant. I could also ask Klaus but then he'd know I had been in his room. Suddenly, I realized something else. Elijah had been looking for the necklace earlier this night, before we left. Why did he wanted to have it and why had Klaus it? All these question would need to wait.

I spoke to almost everyone and they were all interested in me, sincerely. It almost felt like Jake never brought anyone with him, that I was an exception. It was stupid to feel that special, it was probably my imagination. Until one of the boys brought it up. He had introduced himself as Alaster.  
''Jake never brings someone here.'' He looked at me from head to toe and I got that awkward feeling again that I always got when someone looked at me like that.  
''Why not?'' I asked.  
Alaster shrugged and grinned.  
''Probably because he's ashamed of us. '' He winked and I knew he didn't mean it. It still made me wonder where these people lived and how they had become friends. I didn't dare to ask though because it felt too personal and it was none of my business. Minutes or hours passed, I didn't know but I did remember someone carrying me to softer place than the one I had been lying asleep before. I hadn't been asleep in that short moment but also not yet awake. Now I was and I sat up, panic and confusing ran over me. This was not my bed. I was lying on sleeping bag in a sort of tent with my clothes from yesterday. The party. Josh. Jake. I smelled my clothes. The bon fire. Right after I realized this, the tent got ripped apart and a hand grabbed my waist. This wasn't good.


	11. Chapter 11

Expecting it was Damon or Elijah, I didn't struggle but when I looked in the eyes of a stranger, I panicked. I screamed and tried to get loose from his grip. If his hands had felt cold, I would've guessed a vampire. But they weren't. He was too strong, I soon gave up the struggle and let him win. The guy, or man, he looked about forty years old, threw me over his shoulder and started walking. I thought he was insane. Jake, who apparently had been sleeping next to me, had woken up and sat up immediately. I couldn't help but think that the messy look looked cute on him. He looked at the ripped tent, at me and then back at the tent. The man speeded up a little and repositioned me on his shoulder by throwing me in the air , it wasn't that high but his shoulder was a hard stump in my stomach. I gestured to Jake to do something and he finally got out of his haze.  
''Conchobar!'' Jake stood up and ran to us. Conchobar didn't stop when his name was called. He kept a steady pace.  
''Put me down, '' I said, ''Please.'' His shoulders went up a little and I couldn't help but think he laughed at me.  
''Jake.'' I said, pointing to the man's back. Jake lifted his hands in the air and gestured he was helpless. I sighed.  
Since I was dragged out of a tent in the middle of nowhere and kidnapped, I hadn't paid any attention to my surroundings. There were more tents , definitely more than a dozen. I wondered whether the people lived here or were just camping. I saw a couple of family's but also younger couples. A few of the younger people from the campfire were looking at us with a confused look. A wave of shame came over me, I was hanging over someone's shoulder and there was no one who hadn't noticed. Finally, Jake thought of something but when he ran away, my hope was gone. Great friend, Jake.  
''Conchobar, what are you doing?'' A woman asked. I couldn't see her because my butt was turned to her face and I suddenly wished Conchobar had held me the other way around.  
She sighed.  
''Put her down.''  
''No. She needs to leave.'' So Conchobar did have a voice, it was very low and deep. Almost like he growled.  
''She can leave herself and wouldn't have minded if you asked her.'' I told him. Talking about being assertive.  
''Why does she need to leave?'' The woman matter of factly asked. I couldn't believe they were talking about me as if I wasn't there. I also felt kind of unwanted.  
''I'd like to know that as well.'' A male voice said. So there were at least two people talking to my butt now. Conchobar finally put me down. The woman who had spoken first was beautiful. Not the model-kind of way, she was just pretty in her own way. I looked up to see the face of my carrier, it was exactly as I had imagined. Big eyebrows, strong cheekbones and a hooked nose.  
The woman smiled apologetically but the man ignored me.  
''Would you like to eat something?'' She gestured to follow her. I wasn't hungry, I just wanted to get away from all the staring eyes and Conchobar. So I nodded and went after her. Jake caught up with us and I wondered where he'd been. After walking less than a minute, we came to a little wooden cabin , surrounded by green and trees.  
''Jake, honey, '' The woman said, ''Can you let Elisa get some eggs please?''  
''I don't think asking Elisa is a good idea, I'll get them myself.'' Jake answered, looked at me and went back outside.  
''Excuse me, but can you tell me what time it is?'' I looked around to see a clock hanging somewhere on the wall but there was none.  
''Time gives people too much pressure.''  
''Yeah, well, it's more that my brothers give me pressure and if I don't get home on time, they'll get mad.''  
The woman frowned.  
''Aren't you already too late?''  
I suddenly remembered I had my cell still in my pocket and took it out. It was 7.18. How on earth would I make up an excuse for staying away all night? Unless, they hadn't noticed me being gone for so long. I had five new messages. One was from Caroline, saying I needed to stay and not be such a pussy, two others said goodnight. The fourth and fifth one were from Rebekah. She wanted to know whether I was having fun and when I'd be home. The last also said she went away with Michael so no one'd be home. I looked up, feeling so lucky I couldn't believe it. I immediately tried calling Stefan and as a miracle, he answered with a raspy voice.  
''Stefan?'' I said.  
''You dialed my number so yes, I'm Stefan.''  
I smiled.  
''Are you already home?''  
''No, I'm still at the party, why?''  
I blessed him and sent a quick thank you to God, even though I wasn't really religious.  
''Because you need to take me home.''  
''Yeah, I'm not by car, remember?''  
''Since when do you need one?''  
I heard him sigh on the other side of the phone. I also heard a faint sound, it must've been music and laughter. It was gone after two seconds where after I swear I heard a woman's voice.  
''Stefan? '' I asked.  
''Meet me at the front of the Lockwood's house in an hour.'' He hung up before I could answer. For the first time in my life, I was glad Stefan didn't care about my whereabouts and what I did. He hadn't asked a single question. Things were going too good, I expected to have some bad luck soon.  
''The Lockwood's property is only a mile and halve from here. I'll let Jake escort you.''  
I looked at the woman, totally forgotten she was her. How had she heard Stefan on the phone? He hadn't spoken very loud and she was on the other side of the room.  
''Thank you.'' I smiled and looked at the door, hoping Jake would come in soon because he was the only known factor here.  
''So, Elena, right?'' She was taking all the ingredients to make pancakes, which I hadn't eaten in a very long time. I nodded but she was standing with her back to me so I answered out loud.  
''How do you know my name? '' I asked.  
''I'm Annabelle. Nice to meet you, even though I didn't like the circumstances in which it happened. Conchobar does not know how to be polite, he is a good man though.'' She said, ignoring my question.  
''Nice to meet you too.'' I scraped my throat because it felt a little rude to ask.  
''Why does he want me gone? Who is he?''  
A pan dropped and the woman wanted to buck down but I could see her back would hurt so I took it for her.  
She smiled and thanked me.  
''You're a nice girl. So, Conchobar. He doesn't like vampires. He has his prejudices about them.''  
I immediately turned my head by hearing the word vampire.  
''You know? '' I didn't even try to deny it. Jake was a wolf, she knew Jake and maybe she also knew about him. I also felt like she was someone I could trust and another thing that surprised me, I liked her. I genuinely liked Annabelle.  
Annabelle gave a quick glance at the door, sighed and murmured something about Jake staying away for so long with those eggs. She started doing the dishes and I offered to help. I dried, she washed.  
When I finally got the courage to ask about this place, Jake came in , holding five eggs in his arms.  
Annabelle dropped the plate she had been washing and took the eggs.  
''Finally! You almost let the poor thing starve to death.''  
Jake smiled and shook his head.  
''I , unfortunately , ran into Amelie and you know how she is. She came with something original this time though, it wasn't one of her usual speeches. Amelie said she had royal grandparents, hadn't heard that one yet.''  
''I love Amelie, she is such a good girl. I still don't get why you don't give her a chance.''  
''We're not having this discussion again. You know how I feel about her.''  
Annabelle rolled her eyes and started making the pancakes.  
''Sit down, they'll be ready soon. ''  
Jake and I sat down at a little squared table, already set. It had a little vase with flowers and other cute decorations.  
''What is this place? '' I asked as soon as he was settled. Jake smiled and looked at Annabelle.  
''This is my home. '' I frowned.  
''I didn't mean this cabin, I meant, '' but I interrupted myself. ''Wait, your home? Is she your mother?''  
Jake nodded and pointed outside.  
''The man who stopped Conchobar, he's my dad.'' I felt stupid I hadn't looked better at the men, I wanted to see the similarities. I could only remember a faint image.  
After the pancakes, I looked at my cell and saw I had fifteen minutes until I was about to meet Stefan.  
''I need to go, '' I told them, ''It was nice meeting you, Annabelle.''  
Jake stood up and followed me, after he closed the door, I wanted to speak but he put his finger on his lips. I frowned but listened.  
''There are many ears here who shouldn't be listening. '' I looked around. Everybody was doing something, no one seemed to listen or was close enough to hear us. A couple of eyes were turned to us and I wondered again, what this place was. We walked past the place where the bonfire had been yesterday and I knew it wasn't far anymore so I stopped Jake. I knew the way from here on.  
''Thank you, for everything. I had fun last night.''  
Jake smiled and gave me a hug. I was startled.  
''Yeah, me too. See you soon?'' He asked and I immediately said yes, even though I knew it'd be hard.  
We waved goodbye and I left, alone.

A couple of days later, I was sitting on a bench in the park, watching Stefan playing a friendly match of football. I had finally some alone time to think. I didn't get it. Why did society thinks it's weird to not have a boyfriend, to be alone or single for longer than a couple of months? I didn't have a boyfriend, I never had one. Unless you counted the unwanted teen marriages and all that. I meant that I've never been in love with one of my companions. I looked at my fingers. There had been so much rings around that one finger but they all had meant nothing to me. I rushed my ring finger as a symbol to clean all the memories of those weddings. That time was gone. I didn't miss it, only the clothing. The dresses were so beautiful and it was much easier to decide what to wear. I looked around and almost everybody seemed to be in love or have a boyfriend. A couple was sitting on the grass, laughing and holding hands. Another boy, a couple of feet away, was flirting with a girl who obviously didn't mind it. And then , there was me, sitting alone on one of the benches. Stefan was playing a football game with the team from school and Damon was in a meeting with teachers so I needed to wait until one of them was ready. I sighed, knowing I needed to sit here for at least another hour. School had ended half an hour ago and I had been sitting here ever since. The wooden bench hurt my back and the sun was too hot so I decided to go look for a tree where I could sit in shadows. I didn't need to look for long though but someone else was already sitting on the other side. There was something very familiar about the way he was sitting, I could only see his back. After I saw the helmet, I knew it was him.  
''Don't even think of trying to scare me, you know better.''  
''I didn't-'' but that would be a lie. I had wanted to scare him with a smart remark. I hadn't forgotten his wolf hearing, I just hoped he was too caught up in whatever he was doing.  
''Are you reading?'' I asked. It sounded more amazed than I intended.  
Jake raised an eyebrow.  
''What? Can't a guy just love reading? ''  
''No.'' I crossed my arms. He smiled.  
''You're right. I hate it, I don't get why people would do it. ''  
After he closed the book, I read the front.  
''Homework?'' I guessed. Jake nodded and leaned against the tree trunk, closing his eyes and apparently enjoying the sun.  
''I've read it, I could tell what happened.'' I sat down too and looked to where Stefan was playing. He was busy and we sat out of sight. It'd be safe to sit down here for a while but I needed to watch the time. Damon could be back too and if he found out, it'd be worse than Stefan.  
''Like you would be that nice.'' He looked into my eyes.  
I shrugged and smiled, uncomfortable under his stare.  
''I'm known for being nice.'' I winked.  
''And I'm known for liking cats.''  
I laughed.  
''So that's really true? That you don't like cats? How atypical.'' I sarcastically commented.  
''Well, I guess you know everything about being atypical.'' he retorted.  
My smile faded. I didn't want to talk about myself. Jake looked at me, really looked, as if studying me.  
''What?'' I asked, suddenly feeling awkward.  
''Nothing.'' He stood up, put all his stuff in his backpack and doubted for a second what to say.  
I felt sad he had to leave, it felt nice to be with him. I wanted to grab his hand or give him a hug before he went away, because I would like it but also because I didn't know when I'd see him again.  
I also wanted to ask him to stay but I didn't know when Stefan would even think about me and look in my direction and see Jake and me, or when Damon 'd come back. None of those scenario's seemed good so I said goodbye and was left behind by the tree. Seeing Jake leave, I thought about our first encounter, also at a tree or rather, in a tree. How weird was it to sit in someone else's garden? Didn't that say enough about him? Why did I even enjoy spending time with him, I barely knew him. I wondered where he lived. Probably with a lot of wolves and in the woods. He must have a pack where everybody loves and knows everybody. I wondered how that would be. I also still didn't know why he had murdered someone and who that someone was. Hell, I didn't even know his last name or age. The only thing I was certain of, was the fact that he was a wolf. Maybe that was all I eventually needed to know.

"Do you think I'm weird? ''  
''Except from the fact that you are as old as this town, never age and have vampire siblings? ''  
''No, because I've never been in love before.''  
''You've never had a boyfriend in all those years?'' Caroline asked, eyes wide in surprise and disbelief.  
''I've had some, I've even been married but I was never in love. I liked some of them though.''  
''You've been married?'' she thought it hard to believe because nowadays, people didn't marry this young anymore. Except for the exceptions, of course.  
''So you think I'm weird. ''  
Caroline laughed.  
''I think you're definitely special and maybe a little weird but not because you've never been in love before. You just haven't met the right one yet, those things can't be rushed. You can look for him , or even her, you never know, but you won't find him unless it's time. And since it can take a while with some people, you better make it a good waiting time, enjoy it. Everyone finds their match sooner or later.''  
''Have you found yours?'' I asked her.  
She sighed.  
''Not yet. I've been in a couple relationships, I loved a lot of them but it was never the one. I don't even know if I would recognize him if he walked by but I know that when you've found him, you'll know that it is him. And since I've never been a hundred percent sure, I don't think I've met him yet. ''  
Maybe I hadn't found him either, even after all these years.  
''Don't be so sad, you'll have me until then. '' She winked and I smiled. She was right, until then, I was happy enough with my friends and family.  
''I wonder what it feels like, to be in love. People do a lot of crazy things in movies and books, I don't get how you can love someone so much that isn't family and you'd do anything for.''  
Caroline shrugged and we both kept silent.

I came home, threw my backpack on the couch and took an apple out of the fridge. Rebekah, Damon and Elijah were home.  
''What does love feel like?'' I asked Rebekah, which got me a surprised look from the other vampires in the house.  
''I'm out.'' Damon said and left. Elijah frowned and asked me why I wanted to know. I shrugged. I told him I had been thinking about Rebekah and Michael, they seemed in love but I had no idea how it felt because I've never been in love. Elijah told me about all my weddings and I said I liked them but that I've never felt something that looked like what people described in movies or books.  
''Well,'' Elijah said, ''I'll leave this to you, Rebekah.'' Where after he left too.  
Rebekah smiled and gestured to sit down at the table.  
''Love is truly like it is in the movies or the books. But the actual feeling of being in love is indescribable and different for everyone. In the beginning, I literally felt butterfly's in my stomach whenever I saw Michael. When we got to know each other a little better, I always almost fainted when he touched me, that's how happy I felt. I know you'll find your love one day. Just have the patience to wait long enough.''  
I thanked her and because I didn't want to think about it anymore, I put my running clothes on and went for a quick run around the house. The music from my IPod was a welcome distraction. 


	12. Chapter 12

''I don't know which colour to wear with that top.'' Caroline started. I knew she'd go on for a long time so I lay down on my bed and closed my eyes.  
''I mean, I obviously can't wear black again, it'll ruin my nails and it's not fashionable anymore. '' I heard her move herself and some stuff where after it got quiet but not for too long.  
''Hello.'' Klaus said, suddenly lying next to me and occupying the other half of the bed. I jumped up, almost falling of the bed. Caroline had screamed in surprise and the nail polish she was about to put on had fallen on my carpet. Light blue polish was flowing over it.  
''I'm so sorry!'' She clasped her hands in front of her mouth. I hated Klaus.  
''It's fine. '' I waved her off and gave Klaus a warning look. Apparently, I hadn't been subtle enough because he spoke.  
''Oh my, you ruined her favourite carpet. It was worth a lot of money, you know. She got it from a queen back in the 1840's, when it was recently invented. Such a shame that this historical object is ruined, because of you. ''  
I turned to Caroline and saw her eyes narrow.  
''Don't you dare try to make me feel guilty.'' I looked surprised back. The Caroline I knew would start to cry and beg me for forgiveness. Maybe, I said maybe, she started to get to know my brothers a little better. I smiled, glad with the progress she made, every day. My eyes drifted off to Klaus again, see what his response would be. He still had that awful smirk on his face. I rolled my eyes.  
''What do you want?'' I asked. No way was my brother here because he wanted to be with his little sister.  
''I was about to tell you, '' Klaus stopped, got up, closed the door and lay back down. As if closing the door would help.  
''You know the masked ball, which is in about a week?''  
I raised my eyebrows. I had been thinking about it but why was it Klaus's business? He didn't even go to school.  
''What about it?'' Confused, I switched gazes with Caroline and she shrugged, also confused.  
Klaus whispered and at first, I didn't hear him.  
''What?'' I asked, coming closer to him.  
''Elijah won't let you go.''  
A sudden anger rose in me. Instead of just sighing and feeling frustrated, I got angry. I even kicked against a pile of clothes lying on the ground.  
I heard a growl downstairs, someone else laughed.  
''Klaus!'' Elijah called.  
''Got to go, the boss calls.'' He winked and left the room, through the window. He wasn't going to face Elijah now, Elijah had probably told him to keep quiet about it , for some reason. As usual.

Someone knocked on the door.  
''We need to talk.'' Elijah.  
''Yeah we do. But not now.'' I hoped he'd go away and after a minute of doubt, he did.  
Caroline wanted to open her mouth to speak but I gestured not to, instead, I took my phone and texted her.

_I thought he'd let me go! Since Damon will be there as a teacher, Stefan as a student, that's enough, that's more than enough! It is also safe, in school, what could happen?_

I threw my phone on the bed. All of this sucked. Caroline looked empathically at me. She typed something on her phone and showed it to me.

_We'll think of a plan. There has to be some loophole. Don't worry, we'll get you there._

Even though I knew it was impossible to escape my prison, it was nice to think she cared about me. It gave me some strength.

''Maybe we can ask Willow, she is a kind of bad ass. She'll know what to do.''  
I rolled my eyes. Caroline obviously forgot that Willow didn't know my siblings were vampires. She might know what to do with regular people, but I thought this would be a little out of her league.  
''Yeah, we'll ask her how to get away from vampires! Easy cheesy.''  
''Don't be so annoying. We could only try and tell her you have really strict siblings. ''  
After ten minutes of arguing, I gave up and couldn't find any more reasons not to ask her so we met Willow during lunch.  
Caroline elbowed me, a signal to start talking. My sandwich had fallen out of my hands, on the ground. I sighed. No food for me then.  
''So, Willow. '' I started and looked at Caroline who gave me a nod to continue. I turned my gaze back to Willow's.  
''I was wondering whether you knew a way I could to get to the masked ball without any knowledge of my siblings. You know they're kind of out of their minds. Got any ideas?''  
Willow scratched her head and looked at a tree in the distance. I knew her well enough in the meantime to know she was thinking, deeply thinking.  
''I might have something but I've got to think about it first. I'll meet you tomorrow. ''Where after she left us confused. I shrugged and took a sandwich of Caroline who immediately took it back. ''Don't you dare steal my food.''  
''You ruined mine!'' I pointed out. We both laughed and I got half of hers.

The next day, Willow had asked to meet me at her house. Since meeting out of school was practically impossible to me, we skipped a lesson again after noon and went to the coffee shop. Besides us, and the lady who owned this place, there was no one around.  
''I've got to tell you something. And ask you something. ''  
I drank from my coffee but burned my tongue so I put it down again. It was a nice cup, covered with little pink flowers.  
''I know your family are vampires. I know you're not. '' She stopped a minute to look in her cup and steered the milk around.  
''So what are you?'' She asked, looking up at me.  
For a second, I didn't know what to respond. This girl, my friend, knew pretty much my biggest secret.  
''How do you know? Did Caroline tell you? '' I knew Care wouldn't spill my secret but there really was no other explanation.  
''No, '' she sighed, '' here comes the I-have-to-tell-you-something part. ''  
I raised my eyebrow.  
''I'm a witch. From the Horne bloodline. My name is Willow Horne.''  
I frowned. I knew from class what her last name was, I didn't get why she said it now. But the fact that she was a witch, I hadn't had a clue. I looked down, at my coffee and then back at Willow. It all made sense now. The disappearing coffee stain, the flying guy.  
''Oh my god. Oh. My. God.'' Why hadn't she told me?  
''I know, I'm sorry. I meant to tell you but my grandma told me not to tell people who got involved with vampires so I was afraid and-''  
''Stop, stop. I don't mind. I mean, I'm shocked, yeah. But it's your secret to tell, not mine to know.''  
She smiled.  
''Thank you, for being so understanding. Honestly, I'd be freaking pissed on you if it were the other way around.'' I laughed. After half an hour, we headed back to school. On the way, I asked whether she had a magical plan or something , where after she laughed at me. I didn't get the joke, it was a logical question. She shook her head.  
''Your brothers are vampires; it can't be that hard to get away for an evening? I could cast a spell which lets you make no noise, so they won't hear you go away and I'd make a double ganger who is asleep in your bed or something.''  
''Yeah, only problem is, they had a curtain installed around our house. ''  
''Ouch. That sucks. How do you get in and out then?"  
''If I touch a vampire, I can go through it. But not by myself, so every time I want to go to our garden , I can't or I have to ask for help like a little baby, it's not fun at all. ''  
''Yeah, it's a whole new level of being careful. ''  
We'd just arrived at school and saw Jenna talking to Caroline. They were on the other side of school.  
''How long have you been friends with the Hasting witch?''  
''Who?'' I asked, confused. Willow was the only witch I knew. I looked around and suddenly, anyone could've been a witch. I hadn't know with one of my best friends, who knew how many witches walked around here. Maybe even vampires. I wasn't able to tell the difference between humans and supernaturals.  
''Jenna?'' she asked like I was supposed to know. I stopped in the middle of my track.  
''She is a witch?'' I asked, surprised. Never had I thought of her. I mean, I hadn't expected it from Willow either but she kind of has the looks and a couple of hints. But Jenna, she was the shy girl from the back of the class, nothing special about her.  
''Wait. You didn't know?'' Willow turned around, she first hadn't noticed I'd stopped.  
I shook my head.  
''I had no idea.''  
Willow raised an eyebrow.  
''How do you know?'' I asked her. We walked further and came closer to Care and Jenna, apparently, a witch.  
''Witches can cast a spell on their selves, I did it. It shows a kind of aura around everyone. Every creature has its own colour. Like, the witches, that's white. Humans are green and vampires red. ''  
''What's my colour?'' I asked.  
''It's a colour I've never seen before, it's a brownish colour, not very pretty if you ask me.''  
''Thanks.'' I roll my eyes.

Before me and Willow got to discuss what to with Jenna, either confront her or let her make the decision, we arrived. Caroline greeted us first, then Jenna.  
''So, found a solution? '' Caroline asked, she looked from me to Willow. I was just about to say something when Jenna interrupted me.  
''For what?'' She asked.  
''You've obviously met her siblings, you know how hard they are on her.''  
Jenna nodded understandingly; it hadn't gone well when she had visited. I wondered what she remembered and how. I hoped she remembered it as kind of fun.  
''So we were seeking for a solution to get her out of the house, without any knowledge of the others. And I need to do some research before I can tell whether I found one or not, see you later, guys.'' Willow waved goodbye and ran off to a group of guys who were standing a couple of feet further away from us. I recognised one of the football team who had harassed her. Why would she hang out with them now? I shook my head and let it go.  
''Do research? '' Jenna asked.  
I waved it off and started talking about the history assignment we'd gotten from my brother. It was a good way to distract Jenna. I didn't know what to feel, betrayed, stupid, understanding? I understood why Willow had kept it hidden, she was new, didn't know whether to trust us and she eventually said it. But Jenna? I had helped her on her first day, she had no friends, and I invited her in my home.

Willow gave me a call, right after school. I took up and looked for Stefan's car. It was nowhere to be seen. Great. He'd be late again.  
''Hi Willow.''  
''Hi, could I come over? Even sleep maybe?''  
''Yeah, sure. You could eat with us. With me, I mean.''  
''Sounds great. Six 'o clock?''  
I confirmed and saw Damon coming.  
''Don't tell me my teacher is going to bring me home. ''  
He smiled.  
''Stefan got,'' he seemed to think about what next to say, '' caught up.''  
I didn't even bother asking. I looked for Damon's car but didn't see it anywhere.  
I grunted.  
''We're going to run, aren't we?''  
''Yep.'' As he said the 'p', he made plopping sound.  
''That's not healthy for my hair, not at all.''  
''Don't be such a baby. ''  
Without a warning, he lift me up over his shoulder and before I could complain, we were already home. He put me down inside the house and I fell to the ground. Damon laughed.  
''It's not funny.'' I felt dizzy and couldn't stand on my feet for a second so I stayed on the floor.  
''I'm so glad I'm not human anymore.'' He drank from a blood bag, the first time I ever saw him doing that.  
''You are so weird.'' Klaus came by. I wanted to get up but he kicked me down. I knew better than to try to stand up again so I lay down and made myself as comfortable as I could. I wasn't going to let any of them bother me today.  
''C'mon, where's the fun in that?'' Klaus kneeled beside me. He poked me, like I was an insect. I sat up.  
''Go away, Klaus. ''  
He smiled and stood up, so did I, only to be pushed down again.  
''For real?! '' I screamed. I had fallen on my coccyx and it hurt like hell. I got back up but sat down immediately on the couch. A couple of seconds later, Elijah and Rebekah came home with groceries.  
''Willow is staying over tonight. '' I said to Elijah. He didn't even look up, he just nodded.  
''Will she join you for dinner?''  
I whispered yes as low as I could but he had still heard me. There will be a time that he won't hear me. I won't give up.

The next person who walked in, was Michael and I was glad to see him again. I ran over and gave him a hug. I felt the books he had been holding behind his back and immediately got excited.  
''Now you've ruined your own surprise.'' He said disappointed. He threw the books on the couch and I immediately ran over.  
''These are the new ones! There is so much to learn, I can't wait, have you already read them?''  
Michael shook his head and kissed Rebekah.  
I heard Damon laugh and saw Klaus rolling his eyes, imitating me probably but so low I couldn't hear and Damon could. I threw the object nearest me, which happened to be the remote, to Klaus but of course, he captured it with ease. I hated being weak so bad at this point.


	13. Chapter 13

Knocking on the front door, I thought of the first time I stood here. It had been right after I met Willow, which seemed a long time ago. Unbelievable I hadn't noticed her being a witch. I hadn't thought about the guy mysteriously flying back. Willow opened and smiled.  
''It worked?'' She asked.  
''If it didn't, would I be here?'' I winked and walked in where after she closed it.  
''I can't believe Stefan made a deal with you. Too bad he isn't your only brother.''  
I shivered at the thought only. If he was the only sibling I had, I probably could've had none as well.  
''I'm glad he isn't. But it was indeed easy. I didn't even need to say what I wanted to do; he dropped me here without questions asked. ''  
''And what was the deal again? '''  
I grinned.  
''I told him that if he lied to Elijah, brought me here; he could do whatever he wanted while he is supposed to watch me. ''  
We both laughed and went upstairs, to her room.  
''Make yourself comfortable; just don't look under the bed. ''  
I made a weird face and sat down on her bed, carefully pulling my legs up. Not sure what to expect if I looked under it, I asked her what to do about the curtain. Thankfully, she knew what it was and what to do.

Two and a half hours later, I was back in my room. I had already told Caroline, Bonnie and Jenna about the plan in a text message where after I immediately deleted it. Just in case Klaus got hold of my phone again. Since it was a Sunday, only two pm, there was almost nothing to do but to go roller skating. It had been a long time and Damon, who was home, also liked it since there were a lot of girls who sucked at roller skating and could use help. It just so happened Damon loved to 'help'.  
After asking whether someone else wanted to come, only Rebekah and Michael said yes.  
Once at the skating rank, I got a little bit nervous. I'd only done it once in my entire life and that was back in the seventies. My sister got caught up with Michael and started making out in the middle of the rank. Damon left me the second his skates were on and I swear, the moment he stepped on the wood, he was already holding a girl. I rolled my eyes and tried to tie the skates properly but they felt wrong. I sighed and leaned back, looking at Damon and Rebekah, both kissing someone and leaving me on my own.  
"You tied them wrong. They're not tight enough, you'll fall.'' A male voice said who had sat down in front of me. He was a little older than me, tall, muscled and pretty good looking.  
''I can't get them tighter, I've tried.'' I admitted. The guy sighed and grabbed my foot. In the middle of untying my skates, he looked up and saw the look on my face.  
''Can I?'' He asked, a little late.  
I nodded and thanked him. After he finished, it felt like the blood was cut off from my feet.  
Once on the skating rank, I immediately grabbed the walls and didn't want to let go. I was even worse than I thought. I saw the guy who tied my skates, skating like it was something he could even do blind. A rush of jealousy went through me as I saw him skating harder than all the other people. I looked at my feet and tried to push myself from the side but I was not steady and almost fell. I heard laughter to my side and looked up. It was him again.  
''Teach me.'' I said. I was alone and wanted company, but I also wanted to be able to move further than one little baby step. He rolled his eyes but still gave instructions. In the corner of my eye, I could see Damon making little heart signs with his hands but I ignored him and concentrated on doing what the guy was telling me to. It went a lot better.  
''So, Kyle, do you come here often? You're a good skater.''  
''How do you know my name?''  
I shrugged.  
''I heard one of your friends say it.''  
He nodded and looked away.  
''I'm practically here every day.'' Kyle said where after he went after a couple of the guys who had dared him to race. Damon came back to tell me we were leaving but instead of leaving the rank with me, he quickly went to Kyle. I frowned and wondered what they were saying. I looked around for Rebekah but she was nowhere to be seen. I sighed, no vampire hearing to listen in. After five minutes, he came to me and ushered me out the door.  
''What did you say?'' I asked.  
''None of your business. '' Damon shortly answered. I sighed and untied my skates.  
''I want to do this more often.'' I told Damon on our way to the car.  
''Yeah, I like it too. '' He answered to my surprise.  
I wanted to get in the front seat but Damon quickly locked it from the inside.  
I threw my hands in the air.  
"What now?''  
''Go sit in the back. ''  
''You're serious?''  
''Yeah, I am.''  
I growled and did what he told me to. When I called him an ass under my breath, he made a very sharp turn which made me fall to the right and hit my head against the glass. I could feel a headache coming later. Why did vampires need to be so extreme? I sat back straight and pretended nothing had happened. Once we arrived home, Willow came knocking on the door. I let her in and we went upstairs. I immediately took a pen and paper and wrote:

_Did it work?_

Willow answered by nodding and wrote back:

_A quarter after you left, there was no one else in the house. That's when I did it. It was easy._

I shook my head and smiled.

''Show off.'' I punched her softly on her shoulder and stood back up. We did a little more small talk and she left. A couple of minutes later, Elijah came home. I ran down and gave him the most adorable look I could bring up. It didn't work though.  
''You will not go the party and that's it. '' Was his answer.  
''Could you at least give me a reason?'' I deserved to know.  
''Because I say so. One other thing, Alaric will be holding you company that night. Me and your other siblings need to do something.''  
''Why is he even coming? It's not like I can get out of the house without any of you. '' I said, hoping nobody'd be home. I also felt glad that neither Stefan nor Damon would attend the ball. I wouldn't have to worry them seeing me there.  
''You won't be alone if he's here.''  
''But I'd like to be alone, for once.''  
''My answer is definite and I'd like to hear nothing else about it. Go clean your room.''  
''But why do I have to do it? You can do it in less than a minute!'' When their vampire speed came in handy, they wouldn't use it. Of course.  
''Elena, go clean your room!'' Elijah screamed.'  
He had never yelled at me before. I was stunned. Right at that moment, Rebekah walked in and gave me a hug.  
''Elijah, it's not her fault. Don't take it out on her.''  
Without saying another word he left and ran out the door. Rebekah followed him and I was left behind without knowing what happened.  
It took me only one second before realizing I was alone. For the first time in my life, I was alone. Not for too long though. Alaric and Damon soon came home. I greeted them and explained what had happened. Damon shrugged and Alaric got a worried look.  
''Damon, you should-'' Alaric started his sentence but was cut off by Damon.  
''He'll be fine.''  
Alaric raised his eyebrow and crossed his arms. It was fun to see one of my older brothers getting told what to do. I sat down and enjoyed it.  
''Don't you give me that look.'' Damon said and turned his head the other way around.  
Alaric sighed and took the bottle of Vodka from his hands.  
''Go.'' Was his short command. I looked back and forth between the two, wondering how Damon would react.  
''Rebekah's already there, why should-'' Alaric coughed heavily while Damon was speaking.  
''Fine. I'm already gone. '' He left in a blur, taking the Vodka with him.

Alaric shook his head and turned to me.  
''Hi Elena. Long time no see.''  
I smiled and said hello back.  
''Quite a family you've got.''  
''I know. Makes me wonder why I'm part of it. '' I smiled and winked.  
''Don' t flatter yourself.'' He retorted.  
''What's for dinner?'' I asked. I got up and walked over to the kitchen table.  
''You know how to cook, Elena. I'm not your personal servant.''  
''Elijah always cooks.'' I pointed out. Alaric wasn't planning on matching up on Elijah because he took a plate with a carrot on and put in front of me.  
''Go ahead rabbit. Eat your carrots.'' He sat down on the couch and put the television on.  
''Shoes out.'' I said and pointed at his feet. Alaric kicked them out.  
My stomach growled and reminded me I needed to eat. I opened the fridge and saw some leftovers from yesterday. Spinach, cucumber and fish. I was craving for some sugar and fat. I looked at Alaric and wondered whether he'd let me eat a pizza or even Chinese food.  
''Alaric.'' I said, with my sweetest voice. Alaric just hummed , he didn't take his eyes of the tv.  
''I'm going to order Chinese. You want some?'' I crossed my fingers and bit my lip.  
''Yeah, order me some of those fried chicken balls. You know what I mean.'' He sat up and looked at me.  
''But don't tell your siblings I let you. ''  
I was so happy I ran over and hugged him. He laughed and hugged me back before handing me his phone.  
''The number is in the list, I just love Chinese. ''  
I smiled and dialed the number.

Half an hour later, the bell rang. I stood up to open the door but Alaric gestured he'd do it.  
We ate the food and it was delicious. It had been a long time since I had eaten this good.  
I stood up and walked to the kitchen, asked if Alaric wanted to drink something. He asked for a beer and I went in the basement to get it. I opened it and looked over my shoulder. The tv was too loud to hear the cap pop off. I put the white stuff Willow had given me in it and steered it with a long toothpick I had taken with me from upstairs. I put the cap back on, took another bottle and walked back upstairs, into the kitchen. I put the bottles down, at the same time and popped open the other one. I took them both in my hands, put one back in the fridge and gave the other to Alaric.  
''Thank you.'' He said.  
''You're welcome, and you're getting bald. '' I smacked his head on top and grinned.  
''I'd be the first vampire to lose hair, hope I get at least an award for that.''  
I rolled my eyes and ate further, hoping for the white stuff to work. It was nearly ten and I needed to get ready soon. Five minutes and an empty beer later, Alaric was passed out on the couch. I checked twice, slapping his face as hard as I could, but he didn't react. After waiting another five minutes, just to be sure, I called Willow.

She answered the phone.

''It worked. Meet me in half an hour.'' I said without greeting her and hung up.

I ran to my bedroom, took out the clothes I'd borrowed from Willow and sat down in front of the mirror. It had been a long since I've gone out and I enjoyed straightening my hair and doing my make-up. As we agreed, Willow stood at the front door half an hour later. She gave a quick glance at Alaric and smiled.  
''Why are you still standing there?'' I asked her when she stopped next to him.  
''Because, '' She said, ''It's my first time doing that spell. And it worked!''  
My mouth fell open.  
''You mean there was a chance things could've gone wrong?'' I couldn't believe this girl.  
''Well, yeah. But it was only one percent.'' She shrugged and caught up with me.  
I shook my head and went further to my room.  
''How did you know what to do exactly?'' I asked her, fixing the last couple things.  
''It was easy. This shield was made by one of my family members, even though I don't know which one. I recognized it as soon as I touched it. '' She answered and got lost in her thoughts.  
''Wait,'' I said, '' you mean someone you know works for my brothers? They let a witch from your family do this?'' I realized. I had no idea what it meant but somehow, it scared me.  
''Yeah. Let's not think about it tonight, though. Are you ready?'' Willow asked.  
I looked one last time in the mirror before I said I was good to go.  
''So, where is it?'' I asked and looked around the room. Willow rolled her eyes and opened the window.  
''I made the hole right over here so you could just step out of it. There's also a ladder outside, something I've also thought of. '' She looked at me, searching for a compliment.  
''You did a great job.'' I smiled and gave her a quick hug before trying out the hole.  
I stretched my arm out the window and was surprised to see it go out instead of bumping into a wall. I grinned and stepped through, onto the ladder. Willow followed and we drove in her car to the party. Nothing could ruin my night anymore. At least, that was what I thought until we arrived at the ball.


	14. Chapter 14

My first reaction was to talk to him and ask why he just couldn't tell me he wanted to go to the ball. I mean, it was weird he even wanted to go to a high school dance since he was an adult but it was understandable he wanted to do something fun without me. I'm just a little kid and not a vampire. Before I could do what I really wanted to do, which was getting mad and yelling at Elijah, Willow pulled me out of sight, behind a wall.  
''What is he doing here?'' I asked Willow, as if she would know the answer. She rolled her eyes and shrugged.  
''The bigger question is: what do we do?''  
I looked around but didn't saw a solution until I noticed the mask in my hands.  
I raised my eyebrow and showed Willow, who immediately understood.  
Looking around one more time, I put the mask on and blended in the crowd. I smiled. Nothing would stop me from having fun this evening.  
It was not long after I heard Willow say ''What in the world?'' until I saw Damon and Klaus. They were dancing with a couple of girls in the other corner of the room. I'd never been so confused before. Why were they here?  
Before I could think too hard about it, Caroline and Jenna joined us.  
Caroline looked beautiful, as always but Jenna caught my eye. I was used to the shy aura she always carried, people mostly didn't notice her. But tonight, something was different. She literally glowed, I had no words for it.  
''You look-'' I couldn't find a word for it.  
''Wow.'' Willow finished for me.  
Caroline couldn't handle the attention being away from her and had to interrupt.  
''Of course she does. I dressed her.'' Caroline looked at me and put her finger on her lips, as if she was thinking hard.  
''But who are you actually? I've never seen you before.''  
''Are you kidding me?'' I said, meeting Willow's eyes.  
She shrugged  
''I knew it was you before you put on the mask so that's why I probably didn't notice but you don't look like you. At all. ''  
Willow continued.  
'' Normally, your hair is really curly but now, it's straight and the mas covers half your face. The lip-gloss makes your lips look bigger and the mascara with the thick black line above your eyes makes your eyes also look bigger which makes nothing look like you anymore.''  
The three of us stared at her. She had never ever showed any interest in the looks of someone or even said that much in less than a minute. Willow was someone who liked to stick to the point and didn't say things that didn't need to be said. She looked back at us and sighed.  
''What? I can't be interested in make-up?'' She waved it off because she got too much attention to her likings.  
''Anyway, I still don't know who you are, I'm sorry. And Willow, weren't you supposed to pick up Elena? Where is she?'' Caroline said. She looked at someone behind me and her eyes widened.  
''Oh my god. Stefan is here! Willow, we have a huge problem. She can't come if her brother's here.''  
Willow and I turned around. Our mouths both fell open at the same time.  
''Caroline, it's me, Elena.'' I quickly said, thinking about the reason that they all were here, except for Rebekah unless she suddenly too showed up here. Little chance of that.  
''If even Caroline didn't recognize you, they won't either so there's no problem.'' Jenna simply said, the first thing she said since she was here.  
''It's not that simple, little miss sunshine. '' Willow said but I gave her a warning look to say any more. She didn't need to be mean to Jenna.  
''Oh, I see Tyler. Is my hair still straight or did the stupid rain mess it up? '' She first looked at Willow for an answer 'cause she was the most honest but after rethinking her choice, she went for Jenna, feeling the need to hear she looked good. Jenna said, as predicted, her hair was still amazing and she would blow Tyler's mind when she talked to him. Caroline smiled and lightened up a little. She waved us goodbye and walked graciously to the guy she had a crush on. Jenna was asked to dance by a boy I thought I once saw with Stefan's friends but I wasn't sure, which left me and Willow alone.  
''Why did you ask me for a solution?'' Willow suddenly asked.  
''What do you mean?'' I answered and smiled at Jenna, who looked over and was nervous about dancing with a guy. She sometimes felt like a little sister to me.  
''Jenna's a witch too. You could've asked her to get you out the house.''  
I looked again at Jenna, but this time, in another way. Since Willow had told me about her, I hadn't had the time to even think about how I felt about her being a witch. I'd actually completely forgotten.  
''When I asked you, I had no clue Jenna was one. After you told me, I didn't know what to think of it. I still don't.''  
''I was curious about her though, so I asked my grandma what she knew about the name Hastings.''  
''What did she say?''  
''Nothing.'' Willow placed her hands between her knees and looked down.  
''What do you mean nothing? She literally said the word 'nothing' or she just didn't answer it?'' I asked her.  
Willow looked at me.  
''She said she knew nothing. In the witches world it is not good that people don't know your name. ''  
''Why?' It felt like I had a lot to learn about the witches.  
''A name tells us a lot about the history of a witch. If your name is not known, it either means your family was so evil they could keep it a secret or so little that the bloodline has almost come to an end. ''  
''I don't think that if you're not known, you had to be evil. You just lived your life without  
any recognition because you didn't need it.''  
''Yeah, well, there's a difference between your family never being recorded in The Tree and being unknown.''  
''The Tree?''  
''It's a book with all the witches family's and backgrounds in it during centuries. Every witch is in it, every family. Me and my gramma looked in it but didn't found the name Hastings.''  
''Maybe she changed it? '' I guessed.  
''Maybe. But I've got this weird vibe with her. I don't know. Could be me.''  
I'd never seen Willow doubt before, it was weird to see her uncertain. It made me also feel less and less certain I could trust Jenna. Who was dancing with Stefan. My brother. Why was she dancing with him? I ignored the urge to stand up and drag her out of his grip but the chances were little. From the other side of the room, Caroline was looking and it was not her happy face. Even though she was talking to Tyler, her eyes always drifted off to Stefan and Jenna. I sighed. I thought she didn't care anymore about my brother. As if the evening hadn't been enough surprising, I saw Rebekah with Michael, dancing and smiling. So they were all here. That's why I couldn't come? A sudden anger rushed through me and I couldn't keep quiet anymore. I ran outside, leaving a confused Willow who wasn't the type to run after people and I was glad for that.

Once outside, I didn't know where to go. Before I could make up my mind, I heard the door going open again so I quickly walked to the football field of school. There was no one, a bench to sit on and it was dark, out of sight. Perfect for the time being. Looking around, feeling more alone than I had ever felt, I wanted to cry. A tear fell down my cheek. This wasn't me, I wasn't the type that cried for nothing. I wiped it away and manned up. I wasn't going to drown in self pitty, I was just going to take a little rest from the dance, get my thoughts straight and go back in. That was the plan. Until a wolf disturbed it and I couldn't remember what I had been thinking about.  
''Jake? '' I slowly asked. ''What are you doing here?''  
''I saw you going outside and followed. Not in the creepy stalky way , of course.'' Jake smiled and I noticed how white and perfect his teeth were. Like in my dream, only were they sharper then. And painful. I had to cope with the fact that that monster also existed in real life. I needed to stop seeing only the good and starting accepting the bad. But it was so hard.  
Jake sat down beside me, legs apart and hands in his pockets like only boys could.  
''What were you thinking about?'' He asked. His foot was making little circles in the sand.  
I was thinking about how much I wanted to touch him, how I wanted to take off to a southern island with him, how I wanted all of him. But under no circumstances was I going to be that honest.  
''You.'' I said. Not a lie.  
''Me?'' He looked surprised and almost proud.  
I nodded and couldn't help but laugh softly at his reaction.  
''You must've been thinking I look damn good in a tuxedo, am I wright?'' He smiled and waved his hands up and down to show his tuxedo.  
''Yeah, you got me.'' I sarcastically answered his gestures. Even though I had thought it.  
''I was thinking about how you would look in wolf form.'' Again, not a lie.  
Jake suddenly tensed and stood up.  
''What's the matter?'' I asked confused.  
''Go away. '' He said. At first, I thought he was talking to me but another figure appeared.  
''I see you're doing good work.'' The stranger said. I couldn't see him well. The lights were on me and Jake which made everything else so dark I could only see shapes.  
I looked back at Jake, hoping for an explanation but he didn't meet my eyes. He kept on staring at the boy. I stood up. I knew when I was unwanted.  
''Don't go away, I mean, not that you have a choice.'' The boy grinned and the longer I had to listen to him, the longer I hated him.  
''What do you mean I don't have a choice?'' I almost spit the words out but I tried to calm down a little.  
He raised an eyebrow.  
''So you haven't told her. '' The guy raised his shoulders and took a couple of steps.  
''Guess I have the honor, don't I?'' He laughed and it was the most annoying laugh I had ever heard.  
I looked at Jake, who's back was turned to me. His hands were clenched to fists.  
''Elena, we're leaving. '' Jake turned around and took my hand, leading me to the parking lot. I let him because I didn't know what else to do.  
''Jake, what is going on? What do you need to tell me?"  
He ignored me and started the car. After setting the car in reverse, I was pushed forwards and I heard we had hit something hard behind us. Jake cursed and tried to drive backwards again. I didn't get what he was doing, what if it was a person behind us? He needed to drive forwards!  
A sudden cold wind blew past me. I looked to the side and the door of the car was gone, my brother had replaced it. Damon actually smiled before pulling me out and throwing me in the bushes behind him. I was wondering whether he had known they were there or that it was good luck.  
''Damon!'' I yelled.  
''Stay there, sis. '' He gave me only a tenth of his attention before turning it to the driver, Jake. Damon climbed in , pulled Jake out and threw him on the ground. Jake coughed and tried to stand up. Damon didn't let him, he pulled him up by his throat with his feet from the ground. Jake couldn't breathe anymore. To my right, I saw Elijah, holding his foot on the other guy to keep him on the ground.  
''Damon, let him go. He's not-'' I started but was cut off by Damon.  
''Yeah, he is. He is one of the so called bad guys, Elena. ''  
A bad feeling came over me. He knew Jake. But how?  
I looked around, only to see that the number of people had doubled, if not, tripled. And by the look of their eyes, they were all wolves. I recognized Conchobar from the bon fire. He looked even more scarier now than before. What were they all doing here?  
''Shit.'' Elijah said. He grimaced and let go of the annoying boy. So did Damon with Jake.  
''Take her, we're leaving. '' Elijah commanded Damon. I was dumbstruck. I gave Jake one last look before my vision turned into a blur. Fifteen seconds later, I was home. Apparently, Rebekah and Michael had followed us because they too came home. Rebekah's motherly instinct took over and she cuddled me to death, asking me whether I was okay.  
I pushed her off and looked her in the eyes.  
''I was, before Damon and Elijah came.'' Wherafter I shifted my gaze to them and crossed my arms.  
''What was that all about?'' I asked them.  
''That? '' Damon said, and bended over the couch.  
''What have you done?'' He slapped Alaric in the face but he didn't wake up.  
I groaned. I had completely forgotten I was supposed to be home, with Alaric.  
''He'll wake up in a couple of hours, don't worry. ''  
Damon didn't respond, he lifted alaric's arm, let it go where after it fell on the couch. Alaric was lifeless for the moment, the herbs with Willow's spell had worked. Or drugs. You could call it drugs too.  
''Never thought you would go all badass.'' Klaus said, coming in. I turned around and saw blood on his lips. I frowned.  
''You did not drink from someone at the ball, tell me you didn't.'' I said, not even feeling guilty I hadn't listened to Elijah. It even felt like I was the one who deserved an explanation. I really wanted one.  
''What was that all about?'' I asked them. ''How do you know Jake, Damon? ''  
He looked back at me.  
''How do you know him?''  
Rebekah gasped loudly and clapped her hands together.  
''Of course! He was the boy in the garden. Oh my god, I should've known you wouldn't leave it at that.''  
Everything became even more weirder.  
''Start from the beginning please, I'm completely lost.'' And before Elijah could say I needn't to know a thing, I pointed at him and said: '' And I want to know everything. From the day we moved here till now.''

Rebekah sat down, so did Michael. Elijah sighed.  
''you sure you want to know everything? Even though you know it's probably…not fun to hear. '' Elijah sat down before continuing.  
''Some things are better kept a secret because once you know it, you can never go back. ''  
I nodded firmly and to be sure I heard everything, I sat down next to him.  
''Tell me all. I'm ready for it.''  
''Wait,'' Damon said, standing up. He concentrated and looked at Elijah.  
''Where's Stefan?'' It got quiet in the room.


	15. Chapter 15

''Where's Stefan?'' It got quiet in the room.  
''I saw him at the party.'' I said, the first one to break the silence.  
Damon rolled his eyes and I shrugged. I at least said something.  
''She's right. We last saw him there, maybe we should start looking at her school?'' Rebekah suggested. I was heading to the door when a wind blew past me four times. Four vampires with vampire speed. I stood in front of the door, my arms crossed and yelled into the night.  
''Has anyone forgotten something?'' I looked around and threw my hands up in frustration.  
''I'd never forget you.'' Elijah said, coming from behind. He locked the door and threw me over his back. There had been four people who had passed me, not five. I smiled. I loved Elijah, no matter how strict he was.

Once we got to the school, there were a lot of wolves. My guess was thirty. Jake was standing in the front row, next to Conchobar. Jake's mom on his other side. It seemed like they were the leaders. On the outer side, the annoying boy sat on the cold stones, his foot probably broken. Then, in the middle, I saw Stefan. I looked at Elijah but he had noticed him already. I fixed my gaze back at Jake, who looked angry back. Standing in the middle of all my siblings, I tried to look as certain and dangerous as they did. Not like the weak link they needed to protect. Rebekah and Michael stood behind me, Klaus left and Elijah right. Damon stood in front of us, hands balled in fists. He was breathing heavily and I knew he was mad, very mad.  
''What do you want?'' Damon asked between gritted teeth. The next second, I was startled. Stefan started screaming in the most horrible way I had ever heard anyone screamed. I couldn't help but I started to cry, he was in pain. Why didn't he just run away? Panicking, I looked at Elijah, then at Klaus. Nobody did anything! I ran to him but something stopped me. I tried to run forward but my feet kept running in the same place, I couldn't get to Stefan, I couldn't go and help him out of his misery. The iron grip on my pols hurt but it didn't matter, Stefan was in more pain. Then there were two hands holding both of my arms. They pulled me back.  
''If you don't stand still, I'll break your arm.'' Klaus threatened. He let go of my arms and gave me a warning look.  
''Why aren't you doing something?'' I whispered. If he had a plan, the wolves probably weren't supposed to hear. On the other side, they had wolf hearing so they would hear everything.  
Klaus looked at Stefan and I saw the pain is his eyes I had missed before.  
''Because there is nothing we can do. He's held by a witch, she's in his mind.''  
I frowned and looked around. All the way in the back, on the last row, I saw a woman with raven black hair. Her mouth was moving but she wasn't making any sound. Her gaze was concentrated on Stefan. I wanted to throw a knife at her, make her suffer the way she did to Stefan. As if reading my thoughts, Klaus put his hand on my shoulder, squeezing it hard.  
''Don't you even dare.'' He said. I obeyed, because I knew I couldn't do anything. Until Conchobar spoke. When he had explained what he wanted so we could get Stefan back, I was thrilled. Finally, I was able to help! But my siblings didn't think so. All of them growled at the same time, showing their fangs which led to most of the wolves doing the same. Except for Jake. He just kept on staring at me with a weird look in his eyes, it wasn't only anger. There was more to it. I couldn't put my finger on it.  
''You can ask everything but her. '' Elijah finally answered.  
Conchobar smiled and shook his head.  
''Poor thing. You know, I should've kept her with me when I had the chance.''  
Now I got confused. When he had the chance? Oh yeah. I had been in their…I didn't know what it was but I had been in their 'camp'. He wanted me gone back then, now he wanted me closer? He needed to make up his mind.  
''You don't know?'' Conchobar said when he saw everyone's confusion.  
''She, '' he said where after he pointed at me, '' paid us a little visit not long ago. ''  
''If only I had known back then-'' He didn't finish his sentence, just bit his lip and sighed.  
''Then what? You wouldn't have ripped open the tent and abducted me? 'Cause that's what you did last time.'' I screamed at him. I didn't even care anymore Elijah knew I had been with them. Until he shot me an angry look. He bucked down to my eye level and gripped my chin so I would look him in the eyes.  
''You were with them? Do you even realize how dangerous that is? All the things that could've happened!'' Elijah was almost yelling in my face and the tears came up again.  
I tried to slap his hand away but wasn't strong enough , before I yelled back.  
''How can I know anything? You never tell me anything! '' After putting the stress on the word anything, he loosened his grip and I was able to turn my head but Klaus's hand still kept me in place. Great, now Jake must think I was one of those girls that cried all the time. Thinking about Jake made me wonder what his share part was of all this. Why was he even here? Why had he been at the ball, which was still happening a couple of feet from us. If anyone came out, we'd have a problem.  
''Well, what's it going to be? Or we kill Stefan, or we take Elena with us. Choose, we don't have the whole night.'' Conchobar set an ultimatum. I looked back and forth between Conchobar and Elijah, hoping to read anything from their faces. Elijah didn't have a choice, did he? I mean, they wouldn't hurt me. I knew them. And Jake would protect me, he was a friend. His mom also seemed to like me. So why was he still thinking about it? The solution was obvious. I saw Jake whisper something to the leader, who first firmly shook his head. After Jake took a look at me, he whispered something again at Conchobar. This time, Conchobar also looked at me before nodding his head.  
''I understand this is a hard choice to make so Jake here, did a suggestion. We'll give you a week to decide, not longer. I'll find you when the time is ready.''  
With that, he turned around and gestured the others to follow. The witch didn't leave Stefan out of her sight, he was taken by his arms by two wolves which muscles that seemed to explode from under their skin. I watched them go and turned mad to Elijah.  
''Why didn't you do it?'' I asked.  
''Excuse me?'' He said, confused.  
''Why didn't you trade me for Stefan?'' I asked again. I wanted to know, I deserved it.  
''What do you think, Elena, '' Damon intervened,'' that we would give a little human girl for a vampire who is much stronger and unkillable? ''  
I couldn't help but roll my eyes. ''Unkillable is not a word.''  
Damon ignored me.  
''You don't get it, do you? The wolves have been after you even before we moved here. ''  
''Why?'' I asked. There was nothing special about me, nothing they could want.  
''We yet have to find out but we're working on it. '' Rebekah said. She put her arm around me and gave me a kiss on the forehead.  
''We have some theories but that's all they are. The night you went missing,'' Klaus continued, '' we thought they had already taken you.''  
''That's why you were fighting with the wolf in the alley that night.'' I said and Elijah nodded.  
It also explained the messages, _''they will never get her''._ It started to make sense.  
''Now it's your turn to speak, miss ''I pretend to not know a thing while I really already know everything''.'' Damon sat down on the nearest bench and gave me look that said I needed to spill it all.  
''Like you guys have told me everything!'' I retorted.  
''We didn't. It's also not necessary.'' Elijah started. ''Now tell us all you know.''  
I looked at Rebekah. She nodded in encouragement. Deep in my heart, I knew I could trust everyone who was standing around me but something made me feel uncomfortable if I told everything. It felt wrong somehow.  
So I told them half of everything that had happened since the café. I told them I'd met Jake there, we'd seen them fight and he had explained he was a wolf. After that, I had only seen him once again, we had talked. I didn't tell them it was in our garden , I thought it didn't matter. Seeing Rebekah not commenting, she must've thought the same. I also kept quiet about Willow, if they knew she had been the reason I'd escaped, I might never see her again. I also said I had escaped the party and met everyone, not knowing they were wolves. Now, it seemed logic. I couldn't believe I hadn't noticed it back then. Anyway, after that, I met Conchobar and Jake's mom. Of course, Klaus had to comment that I was fast in my 'relationship' with Jake, first meet the mom before taking the boy home. At last, I told them I had drugged Alaric and sneaked out the house to the ball, where I saw Jake again.  
''He suggested we'd go talk somewhere after the ugly boy interrupted and that's when Damon ripped of Jake's door.'' I finished.  
''What I don't get, '' Elijah said, '' Is how you got out of our house?'' Five pair of eyes were looking at me.  
I had no explanation that would cover the truth. Lying would be pointless because they would see through it.  
''You also don't tell me everything, why would I?'' I said, hoping they'd leave it at that.  
Damon laughed and hit Elijah on the shoulder.  
''She's got you there.'' Damon said, like nothing else was going on. Like Stefan wasn't tortured and held captive.  
''But what are we going to do about Stefan?'' I asked them. Nobody had an answer.  
We went back home and Elijah told me to get some sleep. I hadn't noticed I was tired until my head hit the pillow.

Five hours later, I woke up again. I stretched out and felt tired but all the things that had happened came back to me. I sat up straight, got dressed and went downstairs, only to find Alaric sitting in front of the tv. I saw none of my siblings. I knew I had to face Alaric after drugging him but I hadn't expected it this soon. Quietly, I walked backwards and turned around to go upstairs until Alaric's voice stopped me.  
''Next time you drug me, do it with water. Now I suddenly have some aversion from beer. You know how much I like beer?'' He said and I smiled. It made it easier to say sorry.  
''I'm really sorry, Alaric. '' I ran over and hugged him before offering him another drink. He raised his eyebrows and laughed. When he asked me whether I was serious, I said I was but took only something for myself.  
The door flew open and the guy from the skating rank walked in. Shoot. I'd forgotten his name. Dammit.  
''What are you doing here?'' I said instead of saying 'hello'. Well, you didn't get strangers over the floor every day in a vampire house.  
''You're friendly. Hi to you too. '' The guy said and walked to Alaric. He sat down on the other couch and put his feet on the table.  
''Everything outside's clear. '' He took a beer from the table and drank it up in one sip.  
''Again: what are you doing here? Where is Elijah and the rest?'' I asked Alaric and mister rude.  
Finally, Alaric answered, only glancing a couple of times over his shoulder to talk to me. The tv was more interesting.  
''Your siblings are looking for the wolves, and a solution for Stefan. Kyle, this fellow over here, you met on the skating rank. He's a vampire and is going to watch over you with me, since I can't do it alone. I mean, getting one man down is one thing, but two guys? Don't think so. '' Alaric raised his bottle of beer and cheered , Kyle followed his example.

So this is where I had to stick home with for a whole week? Yeah right.

The following day, Alaric went back home. He had a life too and couldn't just sit around the whole time. Kyle on the other hand, seemed nothing he had to do.  
''Can we please go somewhere?'' I asked him.  
''Your siblings told me to stay in the house, you know, because the wolf might catch you and all that.'' He looked at me and smiled.  
''But I think that might be interesting to see. Want to go skating?'' Kyle asked and I wasn't sure whether he was joking or not. Apparently, he wasn't because he stood up and took his jacket.  
''Are you coming?'' Kyle asked.  
''Oh, you drive by the way.'' He opened the door and I held his shoulder to get out.  
Still amazed at how It felt that someone actually listened to me, I started the car and headed for the rank but Kyle led me in another direction. He wanted to get his skates from home.

Once on the rank, I wasn't better than last time but also not worse. I did know now why he was so good at it considering his vampire reflexes. Kyle knew almost everyone who was skating, from the little kids playing around to the grown-ups watching them. In between the games he played with the little kids and conversations he made with the adults, he tried to learn me go forward. When I finally succeeded, he started explaining how to stop but it was a step too far for me. When it was time to head home, I felt sad. We'd need to sit home again and do nothing.  
Once we arrived home, Alaric was waiting for us.  
''Better not tell Elijah you took her out, he'll be furious.'' He told us, or rather, Kyle.  
He shrugged it off.  
''They gave them a week, didn't they? Why coming for her now? Besides, nothing happened, can't lock the kid up in there forever, can they?'' He explained.  
I thought they could, they definitely had done it. Until I of course escaped. The hole. The hole was still in my room! I could leave anytime I wanted to. Only having the possibility of leaving when I wanted, made it bearable to stay inside.


	16. Chapter 16

The doorbell rang and I ran downstairs. Alaric and Kyle were sitting in front of the tv, as they had been doing the last two days. A dozen of empty beer bottles lay on the table, three on their laps. All the blinds were closed and the lights off. It smelled like someone had died in here so I put open a window before letting Willow in.  
''Gosh, talking about stereotype vampires. Death smell and dark space. Good job.'' Willow took of her summer jacket and hung it around a chair. I rolled my eyes and patted Kyle on his head, waking him up. They were both asleep as the tv was playing an old movie. Expecting Kyle to grunt, It was Damon who looked up at me. ''Damon?'' I asked confused. I must've seen it wrong, in the dark.  
''Hello, littl'un. '' He gripped my arm and pulled me over the couch, holding me in a tight hug.  
''Can't…breathe.'' I managed to get out as his arms closed around my chest. His breath stunk like beer. ''She's starting to look purple, Damon.'' Alaric acted concerned but he was laughing which made me realise he was still drunk. Couldn't believe Elijah ought it safe for me to stay with these two. Finally, after not breathing for at least twenty seconds, Damon let go of me and I quickly caught my breath. ''Can't say I don't like brotherly love.'' I gestured Willow to follow me upstairs. Before going into my room, I gave the boys one last glance and saw they had fallen asleep again. I smiled. That would come in handy. Inside, Willow had already turned the radio on so we wouldn't be overheard, not that there would be any danger for the moment. But still, it didn't hurt to be careful. ''What did you want to talk about?'' Willow asked, with the music playing. She was looking around on my desk, taking pictures and examining them. ''Is this you?'' She asked as she pointed to a picture of me in 1965. I nodded and quickly went to Klaus's room. I looked for the triangle with the eye on it. Once back, I closed the door and showed it to Willow. She raised an eyebrow before looking closer. ''Gosh.'' She said and turned it around and around in her hand. After a minute of silence, I asked. ''What?''  
''This is one ugly charm. Who bought it for you?'' The girl threw it on the bed and started sniffing around again. Amazed, I took it back. ''You don't recognize it ? You don't know anything? '' I said, my last hope drifting away. Willow shook her head and gave it a last glance where after she threw her hands up. ''I don't know, you got it from Jake? Matt?'' she guessed.  
''Willow! This is not a present! It's-'' I looked at the triangle again, ''-something. I don't know what but the leader of the wolves wore this as a necklace, only in a different colour. ''  
I thought for a moment before adding ''Elijah was looking for it a while ago. ''  
''Where did you get it from?'' Willow asked. Her head was tilted to the side, a sign she was thinking.  
''I found it in Klaus's room. He must've been hiding it or he didn't know he had it, I'm not sure.''  
It would tear Elijah's heart apart if he found out Klaus was a betrayer. I immediately felt guilty for thinking such a thing of Klaus. He probably didn't know what he had and kept it.  
''Maybe mother knows. '' Willow offered. My gaze immediately went to the invisible hole in the window. I looked back at the door, which led to the room where Damon and Alaric were sleeping. They wouldn't notice me gone and Kyle had been right. The wolves gave us a week, no need to worry until then.  
''Let's go.''

''Where did you get this from?'' Willow's mother asked. She was the total opposite of what I had thought she looked like. I had expected to see a tough woman, that didn't care how she looked, someone just like Willow. The kind of mom that rode a motor bicycle and had a tattoo. Instead, she wore the highest heels I had ever seen beneath one of the shortest and tightest dress I had ever seen. It wasn't that warm but apparently, she wasn't cold. Her blond hair was curled into perfect curls with no frizzle. Her make up only made her beauty come out even more, she was one of the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. Never would I have guessed she was Willow's mother.  
''I found it.'' I told her and looked at Willow. Willow nodded; she understood I didn't want to tell everything. ''Willow, dear, you didn't recognize it?'' Willow shrugged as her mother sighed and shook her head. ''Guess it's my fault then. '' The tall woman stood up and went into the kitchen. I couldn't see what she was doing, but after only a minute, she came back. In her hand lay a necklace, the same I and the wolves had. ''You've got one too! Only,'' I said looking closer, ''this one is purple.'' I frowned and looked at Willow's mom. ''What does it mean?''  
She smiled. ''You're a clever girl. Every head of a community has this.'' The woman in front of me, held the necklace up in the air. ''The vampire's is red, the wolves brown and the witches purple. The one that has it, is sort of the leader but it's an old custom. Nobody really follows that person with the triangle because they are forgotten. '' She sighed and closed her hand around the necklace. ''Too bad nobody knows anymore who has it. '' I almost raised my hand, like we did in class because somehow, Willow's mother reminded me of a teacher.  
''So there is only one for each species?'' I asked. The blond in front of me shook her head. ''No, there is more than one. Like I said, it's for every community of which there are a thousand. Every town, has a couple of communities from different species and the ones that don't belong, need to listen to the leaders. That's how it goes.'' She finished by rubbing her hands and said she'd make some more tea. I looked at Willow and realised something.  
''If your mom has this, then every witch needs to listen to her. ''  
Willow raised an eyebrow. ''Only the witches in her community, something I believe she doesn't have. What are you saying?''  
''If we can find the witch that installed the shield around my house, your mother can make her undo it and I'll be no longer forced to live in solitude.'' Once I said the words, it didn't feel good or right. I overlooked something obvious and important.  
Willow laughed which let me see the cookie in her mouth she was eating.  
''Like anyone would listen to my mom. I mean, it's not because some old legend says you needed to listen to the one with the ugly eye, you do it. ''  
Willow had a point. But still, there was something that didn't seem right, something…but what?  
I told myself to forget it for now and looked at the black clock on the wall. I was gone for nearly an hour, I couldn't risk being away too long. So I waved Willow's mother goodbye and went back home. Once there, a figure blocked my way to the driveway. I parked the car in front and doubted for a moment what to do. I could be in danger or it could be someone who just wanted to ask something. I sighed and realised, I really didn't care right now. I was done with being careful so I got out and went to see whoever was standing there. As I came closer, his face became clearer.  
''Conchobar?'' I said aloud. Maybe I should've been more careful, seeing the threats he had made the other day. A low grumble came out of the man, and I realised it was him laughing.  
''You really didn't expect to see me one of these days?'' His arms were crossed over his stainless white shirt. The jeans he whore, were from the same brand Damon always wore.  
I shrugged, he was right. I wasn't so surprised, I had expected one of the wolves, just not him.  
''I came to talk to you.'' He spoke first and put a step forward. I stayed where I was.  
''About?'' I mimicked his body and crossed my arms.  
''The choice you'll need to make. ''  
I rolled my eyes. ''You really think that's up to me? Don't you see my brothers control my life?''  
Conchobar narrowed his eyes. ''So you're stupid. Doesn't surprise me. '' He turned around and walked on our land. In disbelief, I followed him. ''You think I have a choice?'' I asked him. His back was turned to me, but he was still an impressive figure.  
''Yeah, I do. You are the only one who can save Stefan, and you are the only one who can make the choice to do it. Imagine you'd come to us, all by yourself, wouldn't that be your choice? Who would stop you if nobody knew what you did? '' The wolf kept on walking, between the trees, admiring how big our land was. At a certain moment, he stopped and I looked up at the tree where I had first met Jake. I didn't know whether it was a coincidence or he actually could still smell Jake on it. Speaking of the devil, ''Where is Jake?'' I asked. ''Why didn't he come to me to say all of this?''  
Conchobar laughed, really laughed. I felt like a little kid who had just asked where the real Santa was, instead of its own father.  
''You think of Jake as your friend, don't you? '' The tall man sat down on one of the tree roots and patted on the one next to him for me to sit down. I took a root on the other side and rested my head on my hands. ''The night we wanted you to come with us but held Stefan instead? Jake was the one who volunteered to do it. He even suggested abducting you at the ball.'' Conchobar shook his head and looked in pity at me. ''Can't say I don't feel sorry for you, kid. You really seemed to trust him. Even now, you still don't believe me.'' I walked away from him; I didn't need to hear anymore. I'd believe no one but Jake, if he said Conchobar was right, I had really misplaced my trust. The wolf called after me but I ignored him until I felt his fingernails in my arm. I turned around and tried to punch him but he was faster. ''Look, I came here to offer you an easy solution for all this.'' I raised my eyebrow and pulled my arm free. ''I'm listening but keep it short.''  
A smile crept across the old man's face and I could feel the urge to make a surprise hit to make him suffer. But I ignored it and kept a straight face. I wasn't going to win from a wolf.  
''You come with me, Stefan goes free.'' Conchobar laughed and added, ''That even rimes!''  
''What do you mean? '' All the anger I felt towards the man had faded, replaced by little sparks of hope that I could something for Stefan. Conchobar shrugged, like it was easy to understand. Which it actually was, the more I thought about it. ''What is it that you want me for anyway?'' I asked, crossing my arms. I wasn't going to give in easily. ''My dear, I only want to protect you. That's all.'' He placed his hand on my shoulder but I ducked away. What did he mean by protect me? How on earth was he protecting me when he was the thing I should be protected from?  
''Don't worry about that, just know that we don't hurt you but don't mind to hurt Stefan. If you come with me, I'll promise you that you won't be harmed.'' He seemed sincere, like he honestly believed he didn't want to kill me, like I did want to do. I considered everything he said, everything I knew and everything my brothers had ever taught me. I knew they wouldn't like it if I went with Conchobar but since they apparently hadn't found another solution, this might be the only one. Besides, this could stop Stefan's pain the witch was causing him. How did I even still had a choice?  
''Take it, '' Conchobar said, ''or leave it.'' He crossed his arms which made him look scarier. The mans was literally looking down at me and even though I was used to that feeling, I didn't like it one bit.  
''Fine.'' I answered. ''But, you need to promise me you won't go after any other sibling of mine.'' Conchobar smiled and stuck out his hand. I shook it and told him to wait for me while I went packing. Not sure I had made the right decision; I climbed up the ladder for the fourth time today. I looked around my room and thought of the things I might need. My backpack was lying under the bed; I took it and filled it with clothes and underwear. Even though it seemed ridiculous, I took my make-up too. A brush, toothbrush, the necklace, paper and pen, followed. At last, I looked at the books Michael had given me and put one in it too. A coat on, backpack on my back and cell in my hand, I climbed out the window to face a destiny I had never seen coming.  
''You're doing the right thing.'' Conchobar asked me to hand over my cell, which I did but not without complaining. While we were walking out of my garden, I had never felt so unsure about my future. I might not see Caroline, Willow and my other friends again, nor Elijah and the others. Maybe, I'd never even walk on this grass again.


	17. Chapter 17

It's been two days now. I was getting tired of the cold dark room which was supposed to be my prison. No light, no sense of time, no cell, no talking. The only time I saw someone was when they brought food. They had brought me twice breakfast, from which I knew it was two days ago I might've made the biggest mistake in my life. I didn't know whether they had given Stefan back, I hoped so. If not, I was in here for nothing and my siblings would be very pissed off. The little room seemed to close in, getting smaller every day. The sleeping bag in which I slept was not thick enough to keep me warm nor did it sleep well. Every time I woke up, I discovered new blue stains, from the uneven stones underneath me. Two days, with no computer, no social life, no reading. I was bored as hell. The only thing I could do was sleep, which was also very hard since it hurt to sleep. The fourth day was a little more exciting. A loud bang, followed by voices and light, made an echoing noise. Footsteps came down a pair of stairs and I stood up, so I could see through the bars in the little window at the top of the door. If I stood on my tiptoes, I could see the tops of the heads of the people coming down. The door swung open and I almost fell out, but quickly stood back straight. ''See how skinny she's become! How could you do this without telling me?'' Jake was almost shouting when he took my arm and practically dragged me out of the room. Too amazed to react, I stumbled behind him. The stairs were difficult, him pulling me up most of the time, and my legs who seemed to have forgotten how to walk. Jake opened the metal door at the top, and everything became bright white with darker figures and it hurt so bad I couldn't even squint. Trusting Jake where to go, I kept my eyes closed until I felt it safe to open them. Adjusting, I looked around and saw we were near his mother's house. Conchobar had been shouting a lot of things while we walked away but I didn't care for the man anymore. Lots of people were staring, like I was the weirdest thing they had ever seen. Strange, was the only word I could come up with to describe how everyone suddenly stopped doing whatever they had been doing and just stood staring at me. Glad we were inside, away from all the following eyes, Jake's mom welcomed me like I was a long lost daughter of hers. I smiled and smelled pancakes, my stomach growling in response. She pointed at the table behind her. ''I just baked them, go ahead.'' Too fast, I ate the delicious meal, almost choking at the last piece. ''I can't believe he did something like this.'' Jake was pacing around the room, me and his mom just waiting for him to explain. When he didn't, Annabelle spoke first.  
''Jake, honey, did what?'' Jake kicked at the chair near me, I inched away a little. I had never seen him react out like this. ''Conchobar kidnapped Elena. Without telling anyone, he just took her!'' Jake had calmed down a little and sat down next to me, giving me worried looks. Annabelle frowned.  
''He wouldn't do that.'' I was about to explain he indeed hadn't , but Jake spoke first again.  
''Well, he has. The last couple of days, he was acting very weird. You know I don't trust the man, '' Jake looked at his mother, who nodded, '' so I followed him today. I saw him going down the Grave and followed. Not soon after he noticed me and told me to leave. Which made me only more suspicious and then it hit me, seeing the food in his hands. '' Jake shook his head and started pacing again. ''You know the rest.'' Annabelle gave me a shocked look, like she only saw me now for the first time. ''How long did he held you captive?'' Jake asked, his and Annabelle's eyes on me, his filled with rage, hers with disbelief and compassion. "I, '' I didn't know where to start explaining so I first answered his question, '' four days, I think.'' I wanted to say more but didn't get the chance. Jake wanted to walk out the door, furious but I couldn't let him believe Conchobar was that bad. I needed to stop him before he made wrong decisions. ''Wait!'' I called after him. Only one foot away from the door, he turned around and looked at me, barely in control of himself. ''I, I need to tell you something. '' I breathed in deeply, '' Conchobar didn't kidnap me, I came here myself.'' Annabelle let out a sigh of relief, that she hadn't misplaced her trust in the old man. Jake nodded, like he had expected such a thing but hadn't thought of it before. ''You don't seem surprised.'' I said. Ever since my 'escape' earlier, I had though Conchobar had been lying about Jake trying to abduct me, about coming up with the idea himself. Maybe I was the one who had been wrong after all. ''Jake, what's going on?'' Annabelle asked, exactly saying what I was thinking. I crossed my arms and gave him a look that didn't accept any protest. He was going to explain right now, right here. Jake closed the door and sat down, rested his head in his hands. ''Mom, can you give us a second, please?'' He was now looking up at her and I saw another side of him. In that short moment, he seemed like a vulnerable child, not like an aggressive wolf. But it was soon over as his mom said she wanted to hear everything as well. ''Promise me you won't get mad.'' Jake's eyes seemed sure, definite but also hopeful. His mother must've had a feeling she didn't like what was coming, but she kept her mouth shut and joined the little table we were sitting at. ''You know vampires and werewolves aren't the best friends, don't you?'' Jake started. I actually knew nothing about it but I wasn't going to admit that so I just nodded. ''It was one of the reasons I didn't trust your siblings, seeing as they're vampires. After I'd dropped you off, I lingered around a little bit, to see if you got home safely. They tied you around a pole! I had almost come into your house, it wasn't right to do something like that. But I knew I wouldn't stand a chance against more than one vampire and you didn't seem to be hurt so I went away after one of them untied you. '' Jake was now looking away from us. His mother didn't seem surprised, she looked like this was a daily conversation between the two. I remembered the night well, when me, Jenna, Matt and Jake had gone out, my siblings beyond mad. If Jake thought the rope thing was bad, how would've he reacted to the smack Stefan gave me when I had hit the wall? Thankfully, he hadn't stayed that long. How come my siblings hadn't smelled him that night? They must've been preoccupied , but still. Jake went on. ''The way they treat you, so disrespectful, how vampires treat other people, like living blood bags, how they lock you up, control everything, it's just wrong. Also, after following Stefan a couple of times, I saw how aggressive he was. Sooner or later, he'd slip and might be a threat to you, I couldn't let that happen. Right then , Conchobar told, the ones who needed to be told, that he was planning on taking you here, kind of abducting you. '' Annabelle was about to interrupt him, but Jake held up his hand. ''You promised.'' He said and continued, '' so I was kind of glad I finally had a chance of getting you away from them. It's safer here.'' At first, I didn't know what to say. Annabelle on the other hand, did. ''Jake! How can you be the one to decide what's good for her?'' I looked at him, wondering the same thing. He didn't answer and I felt a little bad for him, his mother gave him extra pressure while he already had to admit something difficult. ''Annabelle, can I please talk to Jake for a minute?'' She nodded and stood up. She took her knitting kit outside and closed the door where after it was deadly still for a minute. I was the first one to speak. ''My siblings are no danger to me. '' After I said it, I corrected myself. ''Most of them aren't.'' I said, thinking about Stefan and Klaus. Suddenly, I realised something. ''When you whispered something to Conchobar the night of the party, you told him I'd give myself in, didn't you? You had everything planned already.'' I felt betrayed, used. Like I was no more than a pion in a big grown up game in which nobody told me anything. The fact that he knew me better than I knew myself, was just as well terrifying and I got mad. Jake looked in my eyes, determined he had done the right thing but also filled with hope I wouldn't be angry with him. Which I definitely was now. ''I can't believe it. '' I repeated. ''I can't believe it.'' There was something I had forgotten, something…''Did you release Stefan?'' I asked, knowing if he'd say no, I'd kill him. Thankfully, Jake nodded. I stood up, the chair screeched from the movement. ''And now?'' I asked him. His face changed from miserable to confused in one second. ''What now?'' He turned on his chair. I rolled my eyes. ''That's what I asked you.'' I looked out the window. A couple of women were hanging clothes on ropes, children were playing, men talking. Jake sighed. I turned around and crossed my arms, waiting for an answer. ''You stay here.'' He simply said, as if it was normal. ''For how long?''. He replied but I definitely hadn't expected that answer. ''Forever? You're for real?'' I laughed, I couldn't help it. It was so ridiculous. ''Jake, how do you think that's going to be? I miss my siblings already, I want to be with them. I also don't grow older, you wolves do. Don't you think they'll fight and probably kill to get me back?'' This was my logical side speaking, my emotional side was in denial. ''They can't.'' Now, it was my turn to be confused. God, this was starting to be exhausting. ''What do you mean?'' Jake replied matter of factly. '' They can't. A witch has done some kind of spell that doesn't let any vampire in these woods. We marked the border in a secret way so nobody but us knows where the line is.'' My mouth dropped. They had thought this through, like really through. ''Since when is it there?'' I asked, retracing my steps in my mind to see if I had noticed any suspicious things on my way here. ''A few weeks.'' Jake added '' Elena, trust me, this is the best for you.'' I couldn't stand it anymore, people thinking for me, doing whatever they wanted. Did I look so helpless? ''Since the plan was formed?'' I guessed. Jake nodded to say I was right. I let my head rest in my hands, my elbows on the sink. I'd never gotten myself into a bigger mess. ''Does Elijah know I'm here?'' I asked, looking at the washed plates. ''No.'' I sighed and felt bad for my brother. ''He's probably feeling hopeless. I can't even imagine how worried he must be.'' I didn't know why I said it out loud, but it felt good to say. I felt the tears coming, my vision starting to blurry. But I was not yet crying, not yet. I needed to think of a plan first, needed more information, before I was allowed to break down. How could I get a message to Elijah? How could I make Jake listen, really listen, to me? ''What does Conchobar want from me? Why does he agree to all of this?'' Jake shrugged, like it didn't matter. Maybe it didn't to him, but it did to me. Determined to ask Conchobar himself, I headed for the door. After opening it, I saw three muscled men standing in front of me. I thought they were here for Jake, or his mother, so I tried to squeeze myself between them but they got closer to each other. I went for the right, so did they. Frustrated, I turned around to Jake. ''What is this?'' I gestured outside, to the men. ''That's your guard.'' Unbelievable. ''My guard?'' I repeated, dazed. ''You told me I was a prisoner at my own house, that I should be allowed to do what I want,'' I said, '' but here you are, doing the same damn thing.'' "I'm not," Jake started but stopped himself. He inhaled deeply and started again. ''This is different. This is because I don't want you to run back to them, which I would understand since you love them but it's not good for you. And well, Conchobar doesn't trust you so…'' Jake finished and looked at the men. This was not going to be easy, I realised.

A room was given to me, rules were explained and then I was left alone. If you didn't count my guard standing outside the door who'd be there 24 hours a day. The room was less primitive as I had thought it would be. A large bed was placed in the middle, a dark wooden closet at the right side, a wooden desk at the left. The walls were stones, painted white and black. The only thing lying on the floor was a little round carpet. I sat down on it and forced myself to think. The room was in Jake's aunt's house, his mother's sister. It was a little bigger than Jake's, because it had a second floor, Jake's didn't. His aunt, Abby, had three children, Rob, Dani and Seth. The oldest, Rob, was twenty, the second was Seth, eighteen and the youngest, Dani, was sixteen. I immediately felt sorry for the girl, having two older brothers wasn't as easy as people thought It was. But the short minute I had seen them, they had gotten along very well so I guessed it wasn't quite like I assumed it was. I moved to the bed, testing the matrass. It wasn't as soft as mine, a little harder but it could do. The pillows and sheets smelled old, unused. I wondered what they had used the room for before they had given it to me. A knock on the door, followed by a click. It went open and Abby came through, carrying a plate with soup and bread. ''Hi, do you like the room? I hope you do. It's not really modern nor for young people, my daughter hates this room, but it's the only free one I have.'' She set the food down on the desk and smiled at me. I smiled back, answered I liked it very much and gestured her to sit down next to me. She did and took my hand in hers. ''Are you cold my dear? Do you like another blanket? I can get it, it's just downstairs.'' I shook my head, laughing. ''No, no. I'm fine, thank you.'' I looked away, ashamed I was going to ask. ''Do you know what Conchobar wants with me?'' I asked her. Abby sighed and gave me a look full of pity. ''I only know Conchobar. He likes to have power, to be able to control everything. If he, by any chance, saw you as something that could help him achieve that goal, he'd do anything to get you.'' After that, she left but not without telling me that if I needed something, I should ask. I assured her I would and closed the door. I needed to talk to as many people as I could and get my hands on a cell phone, one way or the other. And I needed to find the borders and how to break them. But for now, I really needed to sleep.


	18. Chapter 18

I woke up the next day, expecting a sore back and rocks underneath it until I felt the soft sheets, tangled around my legs. I was still wearing the clothes from yesterday, my t-shirt wrinkled, my pants too tight. After I changed, I opened the door and immediately took a step back. I'd forgotten the guards. They were still standing there, the same as yesterday, as if they had not slept at all.  
''Have you been standing here, all night long?'' I asked. They looked at me as if I were crazy. ''Of course not,'' the one in the middle replied, ''the sons of Abby took over.'' Another one finished. ''And what are you planning to do?'' the third guy curiously asked. I smiled. ''Guess I'll go back inside, sit in my room for a couple of hours.'' They all grunted and I couldn't help but laugh. ''Are you guys that bored? You make a terrible guard. '' The middle one sighed and leaned against the wall. ''What do you expect? We've been standing here for over eight hours yesterday, five today. It's utterly and completely boring, all we do is stand. '' I looked at the trio a little better. I hadn't realised it before, but they were just teenagers, young adults. I guessed between eighteen and twenty. Their muscles and hooked jaws made them look older. ''Well, '' I started, '' what can you do around here?''. One glance was enough to see I had made them excited again. After a quick breakfast, we went outside and I got a tour from the boys. The one who had spoken first this morning was Rickon, twenty-two years old. Even though he was the oldest of the threesome, he acted like the youngest, which was Brandon, eighteen years old. In the middle, there was Amon, celebrating his twentieth birthday in a couple of days. They had a little band they called R&amp;B, R for Rickon, A from 'and' for Amon and B for Brandon. They played a song they had written but afterwards I wished I hadn't asked them to perform. The lyrics didn't always rhyme and the music didn't feel right. I even got a headache and I swear I heard a mirror break somewhere. Mental note: never ever ask Rickon to sing again. At noon, Annabelle brought us pancakes which we ate at a river nearby. The weather was beautiful, the sun warm on our faces. My feet were cooling down in the cold water when someone pushed me in. I screamed but didn't get out, the riverside was too slippy. ''You ruined my pancake!'' I yelled at Brandon. The pancake was slowly sinking to the bottom, wasted. The two sons of Abby found us all splashing in the river, soaking wet. Before a word was said, they jumped right in beside us and we played games with the ball they later got. I didn't think of Jake most of the day, I didn't have time to. And for once, I actually thought about nothing but how to keep my balance in the water. It felt good, a careless day, even though it was with people I didn't even know. The day was soon over and I'd almost forgotten where or why I was where I was, until we went back inside Abby's house. It gave me a reminder of yesterday, when I was told this house was going to be my personal prison for a while. The table was set with four plates. ''There's one missing,'' I pointed to the table. Abby shook her head and smiled. ''Dani will not be joining us for dinner, she's with a friend.'' Her brothers exchanged a quick glance, but I'd seen it. I had wanted to get to know Dani at dinner, she was the only one I hadn't spoken to. Well, I'd be here for a long time so I'd probably get the chance some time. Abby had made the best spaghetti I had ever tasted. It's my favourite dish from now on, I told myself. After explaining the recipe, I just told her to teach me and she agreed. ''The best way to learn, '' she said, '' is to do. '' I smiled and thanked her. Rob and Seth took out pudding and ice cream, as a dessert and offered me some but I refused. The three full plates of spaghetti made me feel like I was about to explode any minute. In the middle of Rob's tale about a creepy guy living in the woods, Jake walked in without so much as a knock. I pretended to be busy with scraping my fork over the plate while I could see Jake taking something out the fridge. The boys greeted him, so did Abby who offered him help, which he politely refused and left again, without a glance at me. ''That was cold.'' Seth said. ''Like ice cold.'' Rob added, holding the cup of his ice cream up. Seth grinned at the joke, Abby looked at them with a raised eyebrow. ''What do you mean? He was very polite.'' Seth sighed and exchanged a look with Rob. ''Mom,'' he started, ''you're blind sometimes.'' I took the plates and formed a pile, taking it to the kitchen. ''Where's the dishwasher?'' I asked Abby, and added to Rob, ''Mind your own business or do I need to tell your mother about Sh-'' I was immediately interrupted by the oldest with a loud ''No!'' and smiled, happy about my victory. I could tell them to shut up about Jake, but I couldn't control my own thoughts. Why hadn't he spoken to me? Why hadn't I? Was he mad? I should be the one who was mad. I didn't do anything wrong, did I? ''We don't have a dishwasher.'' Abby took the dishes out of my hand. She put them in the sink to soak in the water and smiled when I offered to help. ''That's something I've never heard. Someone who offers to help.'' She gave a sideways glance at her sons who were punching each other to see who was the strongest. ''So, tell me about what exactly?'' Even though she had whispered it, Rob heard and gave me a warning look. I shrugged and turned to Abby. ''Nothing important.''

The next day was pretty much the same as the first one. Only today, we went to other places and met other people from the camp. I got to know the boys a little bit better, as good as you can know someone after two days. I saw my chance of talking to someone when the boys were busy daring each other to see who was the strongest. While watching them, I sat on a tree trunk with a little guy named Rogan. He was there yesterday, when we played football in the river. ''Hi, '' I greeted him, ''Rogan, right?'' The wolf smiled and nodded, his attention still on the battlefield in front of us. He seemed rather shy. Since I couldn't just ask about the borders , Conchobar and how things worked around here, I needed to seduce him, make him trust me, even though I hated to misguide someone. So, I inched closer, sat next to him with no space between us. It wasn't until then, I noticed he wasn't really looking at the game, he was perfectly aware of how close I was. ''It's cold here, don't you think?''. Original, I knew, but still. ''Yeah, the wind is strong. Want to sit somewhere else?'' He finally looked me in the eyes. I smiled and nodded, gesturing to the woods behind us. ''Maybe I just need to walk a little to get warm.'' As I said, I felt a little stupid because yesterday was hot enough to swim, so was today except for the wind. He fell for it anyway and agreed to walk. ''Tell me, do you like it here?'' I asked and gave him a sideways glance. ''I've been living here my whole life, it's my home. I can not not like it. '' Rogan seemed to relax a little, his steps getting slower. ''I mean, I'd like to get away sometimes, but that'll probably never happen.'' I frowned. ''Why not?'' He sighed and pulled a hand through his hair. ''Conchobar doesn't like people going out of the woods. He prefers us being here, where he can see us.'' Without him knowing it, he had given me the perfect opportunity for my plan. He looked surprised when I stopped and turned him to face me. ''So, you want to explore a little?'' I asked and inched closer, our faces almost touching. Rogan was dumbstruck and could only nod, so I grabbed his hand and pretended to know where we were heading. Really, I had no idea where the border was and how far it was but I let him go first but we didn't go far. After he told this joke I had to laugh so hard with, I tripped over a tree trunk I hadn't seen. Of course, Rogan hadn't seen it either and fell right on top of me. I smiled at him, thinking I kind of liked him but when he moved closer to kiss me, I turned my head. ''I-'' but I couldn't finish because in one second, I was pulled away and lying in someone's arms. ''What were you doing?'' Rob almost growled at Rogan, who was now crawling up. He put me down but kept a firm grip on my arms, pushing me behind him. ''What do you mean? We were just walking, man.'' Rogan wiped the dirt of his clothes, so did I, with my free arm. ''It's not…we fell, I mean, I fell and then he fell.'' Rob looked at me, from head to toe, and turned back to Rogan. ''Don't Elena, just go back to the others, I'll handle this little fellow.'' He pushed me away but I resisted until the two boys turned their heads in the same direction. I followed their gaze and saw Jake standing a couple of feet away from us, looking mad and tense. He strode over, took me by the arm but not before giving the two boys a nasty look and together, we walked away. At first, there was an awkward silence but after a while, he talked. ''What was happening?'' He asked and I was glad he at least asked. ''Nothing! I was talking to Rogan when suddenly Ron appeared and…well, I don't know why he was there but he apparently was..'' I looked at Jake. ''Why were you there?'' Jake just turned his head and sighed. ''I was walking around when I saw you struggling with Rob. It looked like you two were fighting. What were you fighting over?'' He seemed to calm down, becoming the Jake I knew before everything got complicated. ''Rob and I were lying on the ground-'' I stopped when I saw the look on Jake's face and smiled before I went on, ''- because we tripped over a tree lying on the ground. Rob must've thought something else because he grabbed me and told me to go away.'' After looking serious for at least ten seconds, we both burst into laughter, realising how stupid the situation was. It was nice to feel like I had my friend back. ''So, Rogan is your type, is he?'' Jake winked and I knew he was being sarcastic. I punched him on his arm as hard as I could but he just shrugged and pulled me closer. We were standing against each other, faces only inches away, his hands wrapped around mine. I was thinking about before, when Rogan's face was just as close but this time, I wanted the wolf to come closer, I wanted to kiss him, I felt weird tingles, things I hadn't felt before. I almost got dizzy, it was so overwhelming, I was aware of his hands touching mine, his stomach against mine, his arms against mine and most of all, his lips now fully on mine. I kissed him back and when we stopped, I was out of breath. We just stood there for a couple of minutes, looking at each other, not knowing what to say or what to do. But it didn't matter at all, I still didn't know how to handle all of this. It was the most intense thing I had ever experienced. Still standing there with our hands tangled, I heard Keenai, one of the guys from yesterday, shouting my name. Jake and I grinned and I quickly gave him a little kiss on his lips to say goodbye before I ran off. I really loved what just happened but I also needed a little time to recover, to get my act together again. A quick glance over my shoulder showed Jake's back, he was walking away as well and I wondered how it had felt for him. Keenai came closer and gave me a hug. I was still smiling and excited from the kiss and Keenai must've noticed because he stopped and crossed his arms. ''So, what happened? Don't think I didn't see the two of you there.'' I smiled and got shy. ''We kissed. I mean, we kissed. Yeah, we kissed.'' I wanted to scream, to jump around the place, to do anything but stay cool, which was the thing I did. Keenai's mouth dropped and gave me a pat on my shoulder, saying ''Well done, girl, well done.'' Without knowing it, I considered Keenai as the only one who came close to a best friend on this little isle of wolves, except for Jake, obviously. He was around my age, maybe two years older and we had the same kind of humor, I found out yesterday. I'd already met him at the bon fire, back at the party and today had been fun too. ''I promise I won't tell anyone.'' Keenai winked and threw his arm around my shoulder. "So, it's dark now and we always make a bon fire on the beach, you coming?'' I nodded and let him guide me through the dark. ''I need to tell you something else.'' I said as I almost walked into a bush and Keenai pushed me in the other direction. ''Rob tried to kiss me earlier.'' Keenai didn't seem surprised at all. ''Yeah, I expected him too, I was already wondering why it took him so long, Rob's-'' I interrupted him. ''Did I say Rob? I meant Rogan, I'm sorry.'' But then I realised, Keenai was talking about Rob. ''Wait, what? Why would Rob try to kiss me?'' Keenai chuckled. ''Why would a boy want to kiss a pretty girl? Let me think. '' He pretended to think for a while before he went on. ''Maybe because he fancies her! And he wants to make little babies.'' I slapped him but had to laugh anyway. We were almost there and I saw Rogan sitting right across Rob. They didn't speak to each other and I felt ashamed I had used Rogan like that. But now Keenai told me he wouldn't be surprised if Rob had any feelings for me, it felt a little awkward to sit with him so I chose a trunk in the middle. Seth and Keenai next to me. I hoped Jake would show up as well but didn't dare ask anyone since they thought we were still fighting. Keenai poked me in the side, while he whispered ''Awkwardness arriving at three 'o clock, be prepared.'' I looked to the right and saw Rob walking in my direction. A couple of people talked to him on his way over but he was too soon next to me, pushing Seth away. ''Hi.'' I gave him a quick smile. ''Are you all right?'' Rob sat a little bit too close to my likings, his hand was almost over mine. ''I'm fine.'' I coughed from the smoke and subtly shifted a little more to Keenai's side who gave me a quick confused glance. ''You seem a little distracted and at unease. Did Rogan did anything to you?'' I was actually shocked he even asked it. ''No! Of course not. I tripped, so did he. That's all. I swear.'' Rob nodded, seeming not totally convinced, so I added ''It was a little cold and I asked him to take a walk with me, so we got some exercise. We talked, we tripped, you were there.'' He just padded my head and left to go and talk to Rogan, who shot me a worried look. I poked Keenai with my elbow and asked him to listen to what they were saying. ''It's hard to listen with everyone talking and the noises of the fire. '' He pricked up his ears and listened intensely while looking at the pair. "Elena…woods…wrong…worried…mate, that's all I can hear. '' Keenai said as he shrugged and went away to get us some drinks. I sighed and leaned back, still looking out for Jake, when finally, I saw him standing at the edge of the woods, looking at me. I smiled, slipped of the trunk and ran towards him. Since I didn't know what the kiss had meant, I just stood in front of him, letting him decide what we'd do next.


	19. Chapter 19

I woke up early the next morning, in a way too good mood because I was so distracted and ecstatic that I almost fell from the stairs, hadn't Seth been there to grab me and pull me back to my feet. I smiled him a 'thank you' and went down, a little more careful now but still hopping.  
''Someone's in a good mood.'' Seth was still in his pyjamas, following my steps to the kitchen table. ''Good morning.'' His mother said.  
''Apparently,'' Seth replied. I laughed and sat down, a pancake already on my plate.  
''Can't a girl be happy around here?'' I asked him with my mouth full. He shook his head, wanted to say something but decided not to after looking at his mom. So he made a gesture.  
''That's none of your business, god damn it.'' I replied and took my food outside. It was warm but not too warm and almost everyone was up, working or playing. I felt guilty not doing anything in return for everything they gave me like the room and the food. Keenai was working with Rob, building a new house. Seth was supposed to help one of the old wolves with a truck that didn't work anymore and I had nothing to do. I looked around, looking for that one person but didn't see him anywhere. Scanning the place again, my eyes met Rogan's. He waved his hand and I awkwardly smiled, while hoping he would just continue his work, which he did. When Dani walked past me, I called her but she didn't react so I figured she hadn't heard me. I called again and this time, she turned around.  
''Hi. What do you want?'' Dani said.  
''Nothing, I just wanted to know if there's anything I could do. Everybody seems to be working and I don't want to be just hanging around all day."  
She tapped her lip with her finger and a smile crept across her face.  
''Yeah, there's something. Follow me.'' The girl walked in front and led the way to a place far away from the others. As we went further, I wondered what she had in mind until a dirty smell filled my nostrils.  
''What's that?'' I asked her, while waving my hand to get the air cleaned.  
''You wanted to do something, right?'' Dani pointed a finger at a huge pile of what looked like poo. ''This needs to be buried. We always dig a hole and throw it all in but now you came in and the guys didn't have the time to do it because you take so much attention.'' She crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. Even though she was probably right about me taking much time of the boys, this was not what I thought something urgent. ''You got a shovel?''

Dani left soon after and I was left alone with a huge stinking pile and a shovel. When I started digging, I kind of missed music. It would make things a lot more fun, as fun as digging a hole could be. Sweat soon started forming on my forehead and I wished it would be a little colder with some wind or that I had a towel or something. My hands were black from the dirt, so were my nails. My hair was tied back in a ponytail but half of it was sticking out somewhere. To make the time pass faster, I sang some songs I knew out of my head but soon got bored. When the put was as deep as my knees, Jake came by. I hadn't seen him since yesterday, when we had walked through the woods, talking about nothing and everything, kissing once in a while and holding hands. I smiled and wanted to give him a hug but realised I was covered in mud and sweat, not the most attracting things.  
''What are you doing?'' Jake asked, looking from the pile of poo to me. I frowned.  
''I'm digging. The boys didn't have time for it, so I'm doing it. Dani said-''  
Jake interrupted me, ''Dani said what? 'Here's a shovel, dig a hole'? And you believed her?''  
I crossed my arms. ''Are you mocking me? I wanted to help! So I asked her, she said this needed to be done and that it was my fault it hadn't yet.''  
Jake shook his head, laughing. ''We never come here, only to put away the poo of the animals. It smells really bad, that's why it's so far but why would we burry it?''  
''She lied?'' I threw the shovel away and stepped out of the hole, the one I had been working on for nothing. ''Why would she do that?'' I wondered. Jake shrugged, still grinning.  
''You think this is funny?'' I suddenly ran forward and rubbed the dirt all over him while he tried to get away but failed. ''That's not girly at all!'' Jake screamed and threw more mud at me. Shocked, I threw back until we ended up in a mud fight. It was childish but it was fun and for once, I didn't have to think about anything. We were getting hungry so we went to the river to clean ourselves up before heading back to the camp.

The next day I woke up, I got a strange feeling. I couldn't point out what nor describe it, but it was definitely there. I got dressed and walked out of my room, my path crossing an almost naked Rob. ''Man, get some clothes on!'' I told him. He just grinned and pushed me against the wall, his naked upper body against my face, the muscles hard as iron. I remembered Keenai saying he thought Rob might fancy me and it gave me an awkward feeling. Trying to push him away, Seth walked by and gave us a strange look.  
''Not in the hall, guys. Have a little respect.'' I had to laugh but asked Seth for help anyway, to just push Rob away or something but his brother already moved out of his own. The weird feeling was still there and I had the need to go outside, to be alone for a second, but seeing Rob and Seth here, reminded me of the 'guard' I had. They hadn't paid any attention to me yesterday, why would they today? So I ran off, without breakfast and wandered off. Without knowing why, I looked over my shoulder once in a while, even though I was just taking a walk.  
''Elena!'' A voice yelled. I looked around and saw Willow, waving in the distance.  
''Willow!'' I ran towards her, so glad to finally see someone back.  
''Stop! Stop!'' She yelled and I did as she told me to but not without asking why.  
''Just stay there, all right? I'll explain it but just stay put.'' I nodded and listened to her closely.  
''You see, there's a border right over…here.'' Willow pointed with a stick.  
''How'd you know?'' I asked her, wondering if there was something I hadn't sheen but she had.  
''My mom made it. As soon as I found out, I followed her here. You know she comes here regularly?'' I frowned and couldn't remember ever seeing Willow's mom here, so I shook my head.  
''But why?'' My friend shrugged and studied the invisible line between us.  
''She knows when someone passes, she gets this…vibe, like when someone texts you and your phone vibrates, you know?'' I just had to laugh at Willow for comparing her mom to a cell phone.  
''I'd really like to give you a hug, you know that?'' I said, feeling so close but yet far away from her. She smiled and gave me an air hug, which I returned.  
''How's everyone doing? How are Elijah and the rest? Are they worried?'' I looked down, afraid of the answer. After a long silence, I looked up and saw Willow looking intensely at me.  
''Fine, I'll be honest.'' The girl sighed. ''They're miserable, and by they, I don't mean Klaus and Stefan. Well, they're just worried but especially Elijah doesn't seem to hold it any longer. He's questioning everyone, he tried to compel me and I played along but I'm guessing he's doing it to everyone. I haven't seen Rebekah in a while and Damon is just running around from there to here.''  
Willow sat down, her hands fumbling with the leaves. I turned around to hide my tears. What did I do the my brothers and sister? Why hadn't I just left a simple note that said: I'm fine, don't worry. They must think something terrible has happened to me.  
''What exactly are you doing? I mean, it looks like you've ran away.'' Willow told me and I could feel her eyes in my back. I didn't want her to see me crying so I wiped away the tears and manned up. I told her the whole story, about how the wolves had Stefan and wanted me instead. I told her about how they kept me here and I wasn't allowed to do anything.  
''I don't get Jake's like that. I thought he was the badass type.'' Willow said, her mind obviously spinning. ''And yeah, I'll give Elijah your message.'' She looked me in the eyes now.  
''I'm going to find a way out, I'll be back.'' We waved goodbye and as I turned around, I spotted someone in the corner of my eye. It's Rogan, he must've been listening. Shocked and guilty, I didn't know what to say. I also hadn't spoken to him since he tried to kiss me. ''Rogan..'' I started but didn't know what to say. He crossed his arms and shook his head.  
''If Conchobar knew about this, or Jake..'' he said.  
''I know, please don't say anything. I'm not going away, I just really needed to talk to someone.'' I lied, partially. I was planning on going but it wouldn't help pointing that out right now. I didn't know him well enough to trust him.  
''I won't say a thing,'' he said while taking my hand, ''if you do what I tell you to, like staying away from Jake. '' I withdrew my hand. ''What? Why would I do that?'' Rogan actually laughed, I couldn't believe this. ''You want me to tell him you've got your witch friend making plans for you and giving messages through?'' No, I didn't. But staying away from Jake? Why would he want that?  
''You know, you really don't even have a choice.'' Rogan simply said and walked away. I let him because I didn't know what to think of all this. After a while, I walked back to Abby's house but came across Conchobar. ''What are you doing here alone?!'' he screamed, ''You're not supposed to be alone! Can't these fellows do anything?'' I was just about to say I had the right to be alone for a walk, until Rob spoke. ''She's with me, Conchobar. I just went to pee but I was keeping an eye on her.'' I hadn't seen him before but I was glad he had come to rescue me.  
''Yeah, that's what I was going to say, if you'd stop jumping to these conclusions.'' I almost laughed at how sarcastic I sounded but Conchobar was old, he didn't notice.  
''Aight, you're a good kid Rob, I trust you.'' Where after he went away, to do whatever he had been doing. ''Thanks, you're a genius.'' I told the big kid. ''I get you want to get out, but next time, do tell me. I can make up better lies if I have a little time.'' He smiled but I saw he was serious. Damn it. It would be hard to meet Willow if I had a dozen of wolves paying attention. I nodded and continued my way…I stopped thinking. I'd almost though ''home''. That's how I saw the place now, as my 'home', but I didn't want to. I suddenly remember how much I missed my real family, Elijah and Rebekah. I missed them so hard I suddenly wanted to cry but Rob was still following. When I was in my room, I finally let go of all the emotions I had been holding back and sobbed my eyes out until I ran out of tears.

The next day, Jake came to Abby's place and joined us for lunch. Rob and Seth were there as well, and Dani, of course, wasn't. I hadn't talked to her about the incident and wondered why she'd been so mean. Was there anything I'd done to that girl? The table outside was almost set, me and Jake were finishing up the utensils when Rogan walked by. He gave me an angry look, his eyes only leaving mine for a second to give a quick jealous glance at Jake and I remembered the threat he had made yesterday. I ran after Rogan, taking his arm so he would stop walking so fast and turned to the left behind a house, out of sight. He didn't speak, he just stood there with his back turned to me.  
''You were serious, yesterday, were you?'' I asked, not sure what all of this meant. Rogan growled. ''Of course I was! I don't like you hanging around that dude all day. You shouldn't. '' He almost whispered the last part, turning around to face me.  
''Why not? Besides, he's Abby's, Rob's and Seth's cousin, they're family. I live with his family, how can I not see Jake?'' He shook his head and let out a frustrated sigh.  
''I mostly mean in another way, seeing him. But you can avoid him, don't be somewhere if he's there. Don't talk to someone he's talking to. Go away when he comes. Got it?''  
I threw up my hands in anger. ''That's impossible, Rogan! I like Jake, we're friends and I suddenly need do drop him like I don't care at all? I can't do that.''  
''You can't? We'll see about that when I tell Conchobar about seeing that little witch friend of yours.''  
I gave up. ''Fine, go ahead, tell him. I'll find another way.'' Rogan shook his head. ''You don't get it, do you? You may not care you'd get hurt, but what about Willow? Conchobar might go after her, or her mom could get angry. '' He was right, I hadn't thought about that. Why would anyone want to hurt Willow, she hadn't done a thing. Then again, wolves weren't easy to argue with, especially when they thought they were right. But ignoring Jake? Not feeling the warmth of his smile? Even if I wanted to, could I really? Rogan was right, I didn't even have a choice. He must've seen the defeat on my face. ''Good girl. I won't be the only one whom you've made happy. You're doing right by this.''

Lunch went a little awkward after that conversation. As I came back, I saw Rogan threatening Willow in my mind, crushing the tiny girl like it was nothing. I told Abby I suddenly didn't feel well, waved goodbye to everyone and pretended to go sleep. It was the only thing I could think of. It gave me some time to think as well. I already knew I wasn't going to be good at avoiding Jake so I needed to think of a solution and for seeing or contacting Willow again a well. This time, without anyone watching. I wished I was back in my room, looking for a way to escape the house and my brothers and that that was my only problem. I only realised now how easy life had been, what Elijah must be going through, figuring things out on his own.


	20. Chapter 20

That night, I looked for Keenai, I could really use a friend to talk to. It wasn't hard to find him, Keenai was home playing games on his computer. I know I shouldn't have been surprised about the fact they even had computers here, but I kind of was. This place seemed so far away from the real world, from technology that it seemed misplaced.  
''Hi, geek.'' I announced myself coming in. He gave me a quick glance over his shoulder and smiled before looking back to the screen. There was a gun in the middle, dead people lay on the floor and the screen moved constantly. I didn't know how he could follow everything moving that fast.  
''Wait ten more minutes, I'm almost done.'' He said, his tongue between his teeth like he actually needed to make a physical effort. I sighed and laid down on his bed, looking to the ceiling with glow-in-the-dark stickers on it. These must've been put there when he was a kid, almost everyone once had them. Except for me, when I was little, there didn't exist such a thing. When I was afraid in the dark, Elijah or Rebekah used to take me outside, in the cold dark night, to point at the moon. They used to say  
''Look, see that big round thing? It's called the moon. It will always shine and give light so you're never truly in the dark''. We then sat down, me on one of their laps until I fell asleep and they brought me back to bed. I never dared waking up my mother when I was scared, because my father slept in the same room and he'd get mad if he couldn't sleep the night through. I remember one time, when I was little, I'd heard a wolf howl at the moon. I had no idea what the sound was back then, so I started to cry and crawled to my parents part of the wooden house. Right before I reached the blanket that was used as a door, Damon pulled me backwards, told me to never go in there and be quiet. But I was only three years old, I wanted my mother so I cried harder and awoke everyone in the house, probably the whole village. The rage on my father's face when he accused Damon, only ten years old, of making me cry which had woken him up, is something I've never forgotten. My dad loved me and for some reasons, he didn't like my other siblings. He hit Damon, kissed me goodnight and went back to sleep, my mother just waiting in the bed with tears forming in her eyes. She kept herself strong but I know now, she had trouble seeing her son being treated like that. A pillow was thrown on my face, and I jumped up, pulled out of my memories and gasped. ''Don't you ever do that again!'' I yelled. My heart was racing and Keenai was just laughing his head off. I threw one back at him but missed. He tried to say ''I'm sorry'' but he couldn't stop laughing long enough to say the three words in a row.  
''Ass.'' But seeing him laugh so hard, I started as well. After some small talk and catching up, I told him about Rogan and his 'rules'. I of course also had to tell him about Willow but I trusted Keenai. He looked a little worried though, when I told him I had had contact with her but didn't really react to it. ''Rogan likes you.'' Keenai said, ''He is in love with you,'' he stretched the word 'love'. I just rolled my eyes and shook my head.  
''C'mon, be serious with me! I have no clue what to do.'' All of a sudden, I confessed everything to him, all my feelings, all my longings, everything I had been holding up because I didn't have the feeling someone would listen to them, until now.  
''I want to speak to Willow again, I want to see my siblings, I want to be here, with you and Jake but I don't want to be with Conchobar or Rogan for that matter, since he is acting extremely weird, I like Abby and I don't want to betray everyone but I just want..'' And I stopped because I had to confess, I didn't know what I wanted. To get out of here and get to my normal life, being a prisoner of five vampires? Stay here, never see my siblings again and be a prisoner of wolves? And then I knew what I wanted.  
''I just want to be free, Keenai. I want to be my own boss. '' He raised an eyebrow, sat down next to me and sighed. ''That's a lot to want, seeing your situation.'' I gave him a look that said: are you kidding me? He shrugged and gave me a sly smile.  
''There is one thing I could help you with though, I think I can bring you in contact with Willow.'' His face didn't show a hint of sarcasm and he seemed serious.  
''For real? You want to help me, even though it means you have to betray your pack?'' I asked him, looking for any signs he was lying. ''You better stop talking before I change my mind.'' I ran over and hugged him, while saying thank you over and over again. He broke out of my grip. ''Too much affection, girl.'' He shivered like it was a bad thing.  
''Guys gotta be guys.'' I sighed. ''So, tell me.'' Keenai looked confused. ''About Willow, '' I added.  
''Straight to business, huh? Alright. Voila.'' The wolf held his hands open in front of the computer, which had the game still standing open. I raised my eyebrow in confusion. ''You've got internet?'' I sarcastically asked. ''No, '' he said while shaking his head, '' but Willow's a witch, right?'' I nodded and let him continue. ''So, let's say there's a spell which lets you go to another, alternative world, like a prison world but only one that doesn't exist, like a videogame,..'' I finished, ''then we could meet there whenever we wanted to without anyone noticing!'' I jumped up, ''you're a genius!''. I smiled and felt hope rising again. If this will work, I would be able to talk to Willow and see my siblings again and we could figure something out together. I wouldn't be alone anymore , I'd have people helping me, caring about me. ''You must never say a thing to Jake about this. '' I warned Keenai, who held his hands up as if I were a cop pointing a gun at him. ''I'm sorry, '' I smiled, ''It's just, he thinks they're the bad guys and that he's doing the right thing and all that. He also probably thinks I'm happy here.''  
''You're not?'' Keenai asked. ''Because you seem to be doing pretty well. '' He almost sounded offended and accusative. I shook my head. ''It's not like I'm miserable but my whole life has been taken away from me, I'm moving around in circles here. My family is only a couple of miles away, so are my friends and school but I just can't get to them. D'you know how frustrating that is? I like you, you're my friend, I like Jake, I like almost everyone here but this is not the life I chose, it's been chosen for me. '' As good as I tried to explain it, he didn't seem to get why I wanted to go when I was having 'fun' in here, which made me wonder why he would help me get out if he didn't see why I wanted it. This guy must be a really good friend.

**Stefan**

"Klaus, you bastard!'' Stefan screamed in the dark. No one heard though, Klaus was already gone, leaving him and the bleeding girl behind. No one was around and it was late in the evening, he and this beauty were planning on leaving to her house, until his brother killed her. Stefan put the dead girl on the ground in the alley and gave her one last glance before running after Klaus, who he tried to stop but Klaus was always a little faster. Finally, almost back home, he got his older brother and pushed him to the ground.  
''Why did you kill her? I liked her!'' Klaus smiled an evil grin and turned over, Stefan now lying on the cold stones. A car came their way, the headlights blinding Stefan's eyes and all of a sudden, his back was pushed against a tree, Klaus holding him up. ''That's why I had to kill her, little brother. She's the only thing on your mind right now, while Elena is missing.'' Stefan ducked underneath Klaus's arms and spit on the ground. ''That's no reason to kill that girl! Damn it, where am I going to find someone that good looking again, Klaus? '' He knew he was being superficial and supposed to help his siblings find their sister but he needed distraction sometimes. He had been tortured, he even had a little moment in which he thought he was going to die, without having loved someone in his vampire live, without being able to think and say: I have people who care about me. That girl had been his distraction, his salvation. Even though he couldn't really recall her name right now..  
''Stefan! Elijah is on the verge of killing everyone on his path, he's doing more than he can to find her. We can use everyone to help and we don't want him to worry about you as well, not now.'' Klaus angrily said. He had had enough of Stefan's pity excuses, he didn't need to love Elena but she was their family, he could at least care. Unbelievable how selfish some people could be. Klaus went home and immediately shook his head when he saw Elijah's eyes turning to him. Every time someone walked in, he gave them that look, to see if they had Elena with them. It was horrible seeing him like this. Stefan soon walked in after, and Rebekah, who had been trying to lighten the mood and keep everything as positive as possible, sighed.  
''What is going on with you, Stefan?'' She gave Michael a quick kiss on his lips as the vampire rolled his eyes, he didn't even bother answering that question. Damon walked in, who automatically shook his head as an answer to Elijah's unsaid question. Elijah slammed his fist on the table, it broke in two big pieces.  
''How come no one knows where she is?!'' he screamed. ''How come we cannot find any trace of her? She cannot be that far away, nor is she dissolved into thin air.'' He relaxed a little and talked to himself again, like he did a lot these days, ''She can't, she must be here somewhere, somewhere I haven't looked before..'' he mumbled a couple of other things until they heard a car pull up. All the vampires tensed and looked curiously outside, it wasn't often cars came here since all their friends were vampires.  
''I know you, '' Stefan said as he recognised the hot cheerleader who got out and locked her car. He had once brought her home, it was hard to forget pretty faces with nice longue legs, ''you're the one I rescued.'' The girl rolled her eyes and let herself in.  
''I'd hardly call it a rescue. Thanks for inviting me in.'' For a second, he didn't know what to say, she spoke back to him, most people just ignored Stefan.  
''You're welcome. You should know Elena's not here right now, but I would be more than happy to keep you company.'' Damon smacked his head on the back and got a groan back from Stefan. He said something like 'very mature' but Stefan wasn't sure. He just grinned and kept looking at this beautiful girl. ''Cut the stare, will you?'' Rebekah interfered.  
''Why are you here, Willow?'' She asked, holding a necklace Elena once had given her for her wedding back in the middle ages. Unbelievable that she still had it. Willow turned to Elijah, apparently not caring that four vampires were staring at her, tired and tensed. She talked to Elijah like they were the only ones in the room, it was amazing how confident this girl was. In different circumstances, he might've tried to hit on her.  
''I know were Elena is. '' Her words were like a bomb that had the power to set off five vampires in an alert modus, from tired and worn out to active and hopeful. Elijah's eyes filled with something that Stefan had never seen, they were desperate and dark. His oldest brother placed his hands on Willow's arms, as if he wanted to make sure she wouldn't run away, and bended a little to get to eyes height.  
''Elijah! Let her go, you're hurting her.'' Rebekah said and she gave Damon and Klaus a sign. Willow looked determined, not admitting it hurt and Stefan had to give it to her, she didn't look frightened or scared at all, a little nervous at least.  
''Where? Tell me!'' Elijah kept on screaming, not giving the cheerleader a chance to answer. The other two brothers pulled Elijah away from Willow, he seemed to get back to earth, away from that dark place. He breathed in and out, told his siblings he was all right and to let him loose.  
''I'm sorry. Willow, wasn't it?'' The girl nodded and went straight to business.  
''I'll tell you where she is, just promise to remain calm and hear me out, all right?'' She looked around the room, giving every and each of us a personal look in the eyes, she lingered a little longer on Stefan's and told us to sit down on the couch and let her explain everything. Rebekah sat down on Michaels lap who had been observing everything quietly, Damon and Klaus sat down on the large couch and Elijah took the other armchair. Stefan just stayed in place, leaning against the counter, wondering what Willow had to do with all of this.

After she finished, everyone was quiet. No one knew what to say.  
''How did the wolves get her?'' Rebekah asked and Stefan gave a subtle glance at Damon. It was under his and Alaric's supervision she had disappeared and he hadn't stopped beating himself up for it ever since. Alaric hadn't gotten over it as well, he was now together with Kyle looking in other countries, just in case a vampire had taken her. Stefan thought they should send them a text, let them know she wasn't abroad but here, a couple of miles away. He went outside to call them, leaving Willow and the others to do nothing and just sit down. So Elena was fine, they could finally move on with their lives. Maybe, he could even get her, speed things up a little. Something in the back of his mind told him Willow had said something about not going there right away, that they should wait. He was talking to a relieved Alaric on the phone, when Damon came out and punched Stefan square in the jaw. He tasted blood on the inside of his jaw and grunted.  
''What did I do this time?'' He asked, used to being punched by his siblings. They all acted like humans in front of Elena, but she never saw how rough they were on him behind her back. Damon had seen Stefan leave the house, like he didn't care at all about everything Willow had said, he had seen him calling with probably one of his friends, planning the next trips, like nothing was going on. He was sick of it, of Stefan not helping the past few days, of him not caring at all. What would it take to get to this boy's head? Was he really that selfish? Damon sometimes thought Stefan was a bastard, that he didn't belong with their family. Elijah always told him not to be so ridiculous, and the only thing that kept Damon believing he was his brother, was the fact that Elijah remembered Stefan being born since it was their mom's hardest labour and she almost died giving birth. Damon had been five, Elijah seven.  
''Nothing, you didn't do shit.'' Damon answered his question where after he went away to give those borders a closer look. Stefan stayed behind, rubbing his cheek and spitting the blood out. He always loved being a vampire, but for these kind of things like quick healing, he extremely loved vampirism. Willow was the second one to come out.  
''Give me your hand.'' She said, holding out hers. Stefan frowned but immediately obeyed. ''I don't mind holding hands with you.'' He said and squeezed it a little. Willow closed her eyes and Stefan got a weird feeling that they weren't alone. Scanning their surroundings, there was no one even close, besides his siblings in the house. He then realised, it was in his head, a feeling he couldn't describe but his thoughts felt exposed. Willow didn't say a thing for a couple of seconds but then she smiled and opened her eyes. Stefan couldn't help but think her eyes were very beautiful, they were bright and blue.  
''Enjoyed that, didn't you?'' A cocky smile crept across his face.  
''Yeah, I did. '' The girl actually sounded sincere and let go of his hand. The creepy feeling was gone, he was all alone again.  
''Wait , what? No come back?** '' **Willow shook her head in what looked like pity and walked to the nearest tree in their garden.  
''My grandma learned me this new trick, '' She started, ''I didn't enjoy holding your hand, I enjoyed looking in your head. '' 


	21. Chapter 21

**Stefan**

''Give me your hand.'' She said, holding out hers. Stefan frowned but immediately obeyed. ''I don't mind holding hands with you.'' He said and squeezed it a little. Willow closed her eyes and Stefan got a weird feeling that they weren't alone. Scanning their surroundings, there was no one even close, besides his siblings in the house. He then realised, it was in his head, a feeling he couldn't describe but his thoughts felt exposed. Willow didn't say a thing for a couple of seconds but then she smiled and opened her eyes. Stefan couldn't help but think her eyes were very beautiful, they were bright and blue. ''Enjoyed that, didn't you?'' A cocky smile crept across his face. ''Yeah, I did. '' The girl actually sounded sincere and let go of his hand. The creepy feeling was gone, he was all alone again. ''Wait , what? No come back?** '' **Stefan was surprised. Willow shook her head in what looked like pity and walked to the nearest tree in their garden. ''My grandma learned me this new trick, '' She started, ''I didn't enjoy holding your hand, I enjoyed looking in your head. '' 

''You looked into my head? And'', he stressed the word, ''you liked it?'' Stefan wondered what she'd seen. Did she have access to all his thoughts? Or just the ones he had been having at that exact moment? Was she able to see every memory of his?  
Willow gave him a small smile and nodded.  
''Why didn't you tell Damon the truth?'' She asked. The wind blew her scent in his direction, her hair floating through the air while she was trying to keep it in place.  
Stefan shrugged, she wouldn't understand if he tried to explain. None of his siblings really listened to anything he had to say, let along they even believed him. Klaus was the only one who noticed he was still a part of the family, but Stefan was used to it. Ever since Elena was born, she was all everyone couldn't stop thinking about and they shoved Stefan and Klaus away, them being just the middle kids, not at all important. They didn't hate their little human sister, they just hated how everyone acted around her, like she was the centre of their world and nothing else mattered anymore.  
Willow started walking away from him, until she turned around.  
''I'm going to do some more exploring, getting to know the borders. Care to join me?''  
After giving the house a quick glance, knowing nobody really enjoyed his company over there, he took the offer.  
''If we run we're faster.'' Stefan offered.  
''Imagine how fast we'd be if we flew, but that's not going to happen either.''  
Willow took out her car keys and got in behind the wheel, starting the engine. She waited a little, to see if he'd come with her but he was already on the run.  
They met at end of the road, the woods starting and houses ending. She parked her car and sighed. This wasn't going to be easy. A knock on her window made her heart skip a beat and she cursed the Salvatore brother already.  
''What? Couldn't wait 'till I got out?'' Willow slammed her door shut and locked the car with one click.  
''You were just staring at your wheel. It creeped me out.''  
Stefan looked around, the woods were dark but his vampire vision gave him a clear view of everything. His ears told him there were only a couple of night animals awake but his nose did tell him something weird.  
''And you standing sniffing around in the air is not creepy?'' Willow shivered, the wind was colder at night and she didn't have a jacket on.  
Stefan chuckled. ''Getting cold feet already?''  
''Very funny.'' The girl started moving, placing her feet carefully because tripping in front of Stefan would be too embarrassing.  
''Can't we go faster?'' He asked.  
Already, Willow regretted inviting him. ''It's human versus vampire, Stefan.''  
''Well, guess who wins.'' He swooped her up and held her in his arms.  
''How far?'' He asked.  
''About a mile.'' She answered, hoping to feel the ground soon again.  
Stefan nodded and in a second of dark blur and cold wind rushing past, he stopped but he didn't let her go yet.  
''You'll feel dizzy at first, stand carefully.'' He put her on the ground, his hands still holding her up. It took her not longer than two seconds to gain her balance back.  
''Why is it like this?'' Willow asked, for the first time actually seeing a vampire in action, more like feeling it.  
''Human's heads sucks. There's this balance organy thing that gets upset when you move too fast, I mean, for human speed. If that baby is upside down, so are you.''  
''Go humans. So'', she said, ''the border is a little further but be careful, you cannot get over it.''  
After looking for a while, Willow found the tree she had put a ribbon on to mark her previous steps. If she tried hard enough, she could see it, with a little bit of magic. But it didn't always last long, it was like a broken lightbulb, flickering on and off. On the outside of the line, she placed a rock every three feet so Stefan knew where to put his feet.  
''What does happen? If I cross it?'' The vampire asked. Willow saw he was tempted to test that theory and she was tempted to say he should try and see what happened. But that would probably give away their position to Willow's mom and alarm the wolves. Not a great idea.  
''You'll burn.'' She lied.  
''Auwtch.''

**Elena**

I'd stayed the night over at Keenai's, my first sleepover with a wolf. His mom had actually made him sleep on the matrass on the ground so I could sleep in his bed. If it weren't for Keenai, I'd let him sleep in his bed, the poor thing, but it was way too funny so I accepted and got into his bed.  
''So, how are we going to tell Willow our plan?'' I asked Keenai, while turning circles on his wheelchair. He sighed and stopped it with his foot.  
''Hey!'' I protested.  
''You're giving me a headache.'' He said, ''I don't work well with headaches. ''  
I aped him while moving over to his bed so his had his space back.  
''Do I really need to figure it all out on my own? I already gave you a plan, now it's up to you.'' He put his game back on and played further, like I wasn't even there. Boys.  
''Addict.'' I rolled my eyes, took my stuff and told him I was leaving.  
He mumbled a quick goodbye without even looking up.

On my way out, Jake passed, carrying wood. His upper body was naked, he was sweating and he looked so god damn sexy that I wanted to run over and touch his muscles, kiss him everywhere… but I couldn't. So I walked further, ignored him and my urge to jump on the half-naked guy right on the spot.  
''Elena!''  
I heard a loud thud behind me, followed by running footsteps. Damn it.  
''Hey, I need to-'' I wanted to say I needed to be somewhere, that I was in a hurry, when he interrupted me.  
''What were you doing at Keenai's?''  
''What?'' Of all the things I'd thought he'd say, this wasn't one of them. No 'why-are-you-ignoring-me' or 'is-there-something-wrong'.  
Jake's jaw tightened, he took my arm and led to me to the back of the house, where no one could see us.  
''Did you,'' His eyes closed for a second and his breathing became heavier, ''sleep there?''  
"Yes, I did. Not that it is any of your business.'' As soon as I said it, I regretted it. The wolf pushed me against the wall, a nail stung in my back and I screamed but he kept his firm grip.  
''Let go.'' I wanted to scream it but it was more like a whisper. He frightened me, his muscles tense, his eyes filled with anger.  
''I can't..'' Jake hissed and kissed me, hard and rough, where after he pulled me against his body. I tried to pull away, punched at his arms and every other part of him I could hit. But he was stronger, way stronger and didn't seem to notice I didn't want this, not now and not when he was angry. When he gasped for breath, and broke the kiss, I took the opportunity to speak my mind. ''Jake! Stop-'' but before I could say one more word, he kissed me again, not waiting for my permission. His hands were fumbling with my t-shirt, getting underneath it. And then, a grunt and he was gone. Jake now lay on the ground, someone else on top of him who was pinning him down. A closer look gave away the familiar features of Rob. I didn't get what was happening. Where they fighting? It looked like a fight, except Rob was not punching Jake or the other way around, he just seemed to try and calm him down. I had no idea what to do, I felt powerless. All of a sudden, Jake stopped wrestling, he just laid on his back, panting from the effort , Rob breathing heavily as well.  
''You okay now?'' Rob asked. Jake nodded but his face was still tight, it seemed like he could explode any time soon again.  
''I'm going to stand up now, you with me?''  
Again, Jake just nodded and let Rob help him up. I'd never seen this side of him, he used to seem under control of everything he did, loving and peaceful. Like usual, I just wanted to run from problems and deal with it later but this couldn't wait. Before I was able to say something, Keenai came from around the corner, a garbage bag in his hand. When he saw us, he frowned and walked over, not his best move because Jake seemed to transform into that wild animal again, pointing at Keenai, screaming he was going to kill him. Rob sighed deeply and gave me a disappointed look where after he pushed Jake away, into the woods.  
''What happened?'' Keenai asked, the garbage's smell hanging around him.  
I coughed and pointed at the bag, a subtle hint he immediately got. After the bag was put away, out of smell-distance, I told him exactly what had happened from the minute I walked out his door.  
The guy smiled cockily and gave me a bump on my shoulder.  
''At least one of us feels good.'' I told him with a hint of sarcasm.  
''We had sex, of course I feel good.''  
I rolled my eyes and told him to get back to his computer so I could figure out a plan to contact Willow, until it suddenly hit me.  
''Keenai!'' I almost shouted in joy, the boy just looked weirdly at me.  
''It's very simple, so simple, we didn't see it.''  
''What is?'' He asked.  
''You can go see Willow. Jake also came out of the woods, so why wouldn't you?''  
''Jake has a reason, he is a ranger. Why would I go out?'' Keenai shook his head, I could tell he wasn't very happy with my thinking. But I wasn't going to give up so soon.  
''We'll find you a reason.''

**Stefan**

''…like a regenerator. '' Stefan only heard those last words when Willow turned around to see if he had been listening to her. He shrugged, he didn't get much of what she had said.  
Willow sighed. ''You're a great listener.''  
A crack somewhere near them took his attention and as he listened closer, he heard footsteps.  
''Willow, come here.'' Stefan commanded.  
''Why? What's wrong?' She asked, but carefully walked back until she stood next to him.  
''We're not alone.'' He saw the silhouette of a male coming towards them, but there were twoo pairs of hearts beating and as he focused, he could hear the soft footsteps of a girl. Stefan sniffed again, which made Willow chuckle, and took in the familiar scent.  
''It's Elena.''  
This information made Willow almost scream her name, until Stefan covered her mouth.  
''There's someone else.''  
He grabbed her by the waist and jumped in the nearest tree, high enough to not be seen between the leaves. Willow gasped as she was suddenly so high and held on to Stefan, him standing between her and the trunk so she had nothing else to hold. Something in her mind thought he had positioned himself like that on purpose, another piece told her he was only thinking about his sister right now.  
''So what now?'' The guy asked, a couple of feet away.  
''Just run over there and we'll see.'' Elena said.  
''We'll see? Are you crazy? Imagine they've put some immediate burn to hell alarm on it! I'm not going to hell, Elena.'' The guy smelled like wolf, probably one of them.  
They heard Elena sigh and Willow imagined how she must be biting her lip while thinking.  
''Keenai, I don't know any other way. Please, do it for me. '' She begged.  
Willow looked up in Stefan's dark eyes, the only thing she could tell apart in the dark. What was he waiting for? It was obviously a friend of Elena's , no one dangerous. She elbowed him in his stomach but was caught by surprise at how hard it was, her elbow even started throbbing and she cursed herself. Stefan just gave her a small smile, and she felt humiliated at the way he looked at her. He pressed his finger to his lips and jumped down. The boy and Elena both jumped back a little, startled by the sudden appearance of a vampire in front of them. Willow stayed where she was and didn't make a sound, not sure what Stefan was up to.  
''He a friend of yours?'' Stefan nodded his head at the wolf.  
Elena chuckled. ''Hello, little brother.'' She smiled. She always called him that way because it made her feel older, like she wasn't the youngest, she had said once. ''This is Keenai. Keenai, Stefan.''  
''Is he friend or foe?'' Stefan asked, just in case.  
''Friend. Why?'' Elena watched her brother, her face unsure.  
He jumped up and got Willow down. The second her feet hit the ground, she ran closer to where Elena was but stopped at a certain point. The border, he thought.  
''How are you?'' She asked, a question Stefan had forgotten to ask.  
''A little homesick. And I think I even gained weight even though that's physically impossible but Jake's mom makes a hell of a pancake.'' Elena came a little closer but looked questionably at the ground.  
''It's right here, if you stop at that branch, you shouldn't touch it.'' Willow said.  
Both the guy and Elena stepped forward, looking underneath them as if the border would suddenly appear.  
"What are you doing here?" Elena asked, thinking about when these two became friends.  
''Studying the border. '' Willow took a couple of steps to the left, then back to the right.  
''I found out it stops for two minutes, at 2.15 AM. Like it needs to reload or something, like a generator. At 2.17 AM it starts again. I think the person who put this spell here needs to do it every night again, or maybe it was only this night, I don't know yet. I need to have more time to know for sure.''  
''So, in theory, she could get out for two minutes ?'' Stefan asked.  
''You know I was being sarcastic when I told you you were a great listener? As I said to you before, she indeed has two minutes if she doesn't want anyone noticing she's gone.'' Willow looked a little sad as she said that last sentence.  
''We'll meet here tomorrow night again, see what happens. '' Stefan thought it was simple, it didn't take more than a second to step over the line, so why not escape as soon as possible?  
''I don't know if we can pull that off. I escaped this night without anyone noticing but it's risky. Keenai thought of way to communicate though.'' Elena touched his shoulder, like a proud mother.  
Willow didn't like it, if she got too close to someone in there, she might not want to leave.  
''Yeah? Does he have a tongue to speak? '' She crossed her arms and tapped her foot.  
''I'm out.'' The wolf turned around and shook his head. He seemed mad all of a sudden. Must be a trait of being a wolf, Stefan thought.  
Elena didn't seem to get it either but stayed with them and didn't run after him.  
''Could you create a virtual world based on a computer game?'' She asked her friend.  
''Like Sims only with us in it?'' Willow thought about it but couldn't remember ever knowing such a spell. ''I guess I could look into how prison worlds are made and change the spell a bit…''  
"Thank you, you're the best. I've got to go, before anyone catches us.'' His sister said.  
It was weird seeing her so happy and doing well while she was supposed to be a prisoner, and the rest of their siblings were worried sick. Stefan didn't know very good how to feel about all this. On one hand, he was glad she was okay but on the other, he hated her for doing this to Elijah.  
After they said goodbye, something seemed to bother Willow.  
''She seems all right.'' Stefan said. The wind was blowing harder and the leaves were bumping into their faces.  
''That's the problem.'' Willow answered and shivered. The vampire picked her back up but as he ran, he tucked her away in his arms to block the wind. He put her in the passenger seat as she yawned, she didn't complain so he drove her home. The petite girl had fallen asleep and he couldn't help but smile at how innocent and young she looked with her eyes closed. The window to her room was open so he climbed up and put her to bed.


End file.
